Saturday, April 2nd.
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.
It's been two days since Iodem joined us. He seems to be sincere, but I still don't fully trust him. Hopefully he will be of some use to us other than his maps, but until then, I am keeping a close watch on him. Ivan seems to be acting weird when he is around me. Boys, I just don't want to know. Anyway, I have been getting bored with all this sailing, and we haven't seen land since we left Lemuria. Iodem claims that he had been on water for over two weeks before he ran into us. We have been trying to ration out food, but it hasn't helped much. I hope we don't run out before we run find land. Water hasn't been a problem, because every time we get low, Ivan summons a small storm and we are set for several days. Mia was experimenting with some healing items and has come up with a mixture that revives, heals, and cleanses poison. Good thing we have her with us.
Tuesday, April 5th.
Excerpt from the diary of Mia.
Iodem seems really nervous for some reason. His men seem to be wanting a fight. No matter where they go and what they do, they carry around their swords and armour. Rachael is the only girl that Iodem brought with him. She is a really good cook, and I think she used to work at a sanctum because she has a lot of herbs and elixirs. She even let me have some! Isaac has taken to her, and has even said more than five words in a single day!
Friday, April 8th.
The fleet started sailing earlier that usual. Breakfast was hearty and delicious, thanks to the food Iodem had brought along. They still rationed themselves, but not nearly as much as they used to. Suddenly, a shout emitted from the crow's nest of Liam's second ship. Joshua had seen something. Alex teleported up to his post as Garet, Bahzell, and Jonathan scrambled to theirs. They never expected to see what they did. Four vessels, one Lemurian, were sailing directly towards them. There were at least six men per ship. Even though Isaac and company outnumbered them, only half of their allies were Adepts. More than likely all aboard the Fire Clans' ships were Adepts, and angry at that. The flotilla of five turned hard to starboard side and readied their ballistae. The twenty-two men aboard the vessels looked at each other, not sure what to expect. Suddenly, the Adepts stepped forward and cast their most powerful spells. "Ragnarok!" "Pyroclasm!" "Spark Plasma!" "Ice Missile!" "Stone Barrage!" "Dragon Claw!" "Tempest!" "Frozen Wall!" "Ice Bolt!"
All attacks hit their targets, and one enemy vessel began to quickly sink. The crew jumped onto a ship next to the wreckage.
The non-adepts just looked at the Psynergists with awe. "Get ready!" Iodem barked. "Those guys can do that too!" Several soldiers ran to the lower decks, shouting, "The ballistae are ready to fire! Waiting for your signal!" "Not yet!" Iodem hollered. "We need to make each shot count!" The ships came closer. "FIRE AT WILL!" A barrage of steel-tipped bolts flew from the sides of the ships. All watched and hoped that they would do enough damage to at least scare away their assailants. The bolts penetrated the hulls of the ships, but not nearly enough damage was dealt to sink anything. The ships continued to advance.
Isaac glanced toward Garet. "We need some defense. Get everyone their armour!" Ivan stepped up. "We can do better. We have djinn." All at once, the three boys unleashed Granite, Flash, Corona, Forge, Breeze, and Zephyr. The army was protected by firewalls and earthen barriers. Their defense rose along with their agility and attack. "Now, we are ready to fight." Iodem hollered, "FIRE AGAIN!" Another barrage of bolts bellowed from the ships. Garet yelled, "Flame Wall!" Picard, stunned that Garet would do such a thing, turned toward him. "Are you crazy!?" Felix piped in, "No. Look at the bolts! They are on fire!" Picard turned just in time to watch the flaming arrow to crash into the hull of one of the ships. "Hmm." Another set of bolts spewed from the side. The ships were close enough for the army to get a good view. A bolt impaled an adept in the chest, throwing him back twenty feet and impaling another. Another bolt tore through the skull of another adept and crashed into the post the crow's nest was atop.
The flaming ship made a direct collision course with Liam's ship. "Nooo!" he shouted as he ran to his vessel. A crash was eminent, but the foolish man kept trying to save his ship. It caught fire and the crash split the hull. Engulfed in their rage for the loss of the ship, Cai, Barque, Liam, Duke, and Joshua charged aboard the enemy craft. Viciously they tore through the men aboard. Never before had anyone seen such carnage. The men hacked down every man without thought or restraint. One man had his arm sliced off with surgical precision, followed by a stroke that pierced the man's heart. Another had been cut through the gut, completely separating his top half from his lower. In an attempt to flee, another was hit in the back with the thrown sword of the angry Liam. A sneaky adept was ably to get behind Cai, and broke his neck with his hands. Grapping the dead man's sword, he assaulted Duke and stabbed him in the back of the head. Barque saw another trying to jump to a fellow ship, and so just before the leap, he severed the man's legs off. The legless man flew off the side of the ship and landed in the water. A shark quickly thanked Barque by devouring the man zealously. Joshua had impaled two others with his Trident. Suddenly, Joshua fell to his knees, dead from the wound caused by an enemy sword.. Barque saw the attacker and decapitated him with ease. The final man aboard climbed up to the crow's nest. Liam and Barque retreated to their own vessel and emptied all contents or both the sinking vessels onto the deck of Felix's ship. Both Liam's vessel and the flaming one sank, and the poor soul trapped atop the crow's nest attempted to swim to a friendly craft, but Liam knocked him unconscious with a large piece of wood he threw. Sharks quickly made him into a nice meal.
Another vessel was coming within range for her crew to board Iodem's second ship. Auger and Bahzell unsheathed their swords and charged. Barque and Liam were not far behind. Jonathan and Christopher joined them aboard Liam's vessel, and jumped onto the invading liner. A wall of fire consumed Liam and Auger, incinerating them instantly. Barque and Bahzell hacked away at the flame user vivaciously, then turned toward another crewman. The claymore carried by Christopher severed the right arm and leg of the unsuspecting man. Jonathan's foot finished the job, crushing the adept's chest and stopping his heart. A long scythe swung around the corner of the cabin, imbedding itself into the face of Christopher. Jonathan swung his axe and emptied the contents of the unknown man's chest out onto the deck. Aaron, who had hopped aboard after the other six, hurled his javelin into the chest of an oncoming clan member. Immediately he ran and retrieved his weapons, just in time to be smashed in the head by an unfamiliar mace.
Another barrage of bolts shot from the ballistae. Impaling another adept aboard the vessel Bahzell was on, a bolt suddenly changed direction from the new burden and fell. It punctured the bottom the ship, and the liner began to take on water. A stray bolt hammered Jonathan in the arm, severing it off but not killing Jonathan. With his remaining arm, he hurled his javelin across the water at the other enemy sea vehicle. It hit its mark, piercing the heart of an inattentive warrior. Bahzell took a stroke at the remaining warrior on the sinking vessel with his broad sword, dealing much damage but not killing him. The soldier struck back, swinging his sword. It was blocked with Bahzell's blade, and Bahzell swung his sword through the stomach of the soldier. Intestines painted the wooden floor red. The one- armed soldier attempted to return to Felix's boat, but was hit with his own javelin in mid flight. Jonathan plunged into the now red water.
The final opposing ship rammed into the remaining ship once commanded by Aaron. Bahzell hurdled onto the boat, but two swords were quickly boring into his flesh. A severed artery shot blood across the deck as he fell to the ground. Cai, Duke, and Robert attempted to slay the group of Fire Clan mariners, but they met the same fate as Bahzell. Ivan and Mia quickly put several djinn on stand-by, and then summoned Atlanta and Neptune. A shower of arrows rained from the sky, almost completely decimating the unfriendly boat. Five of the six crewmen made it to the abandoned sinking allied ship, but one arrow crashed into an unfortunate person, tearing him to pieces and leaving nothing but small shreds of flesh. The water from Neptune crashed into the boat now occupied by antagonistic forces, dooming it to become underwater wreckage. Isaac and Felix lunged forward and detached a man's arms. The man stumbled backwards and Mia's mace smashed into his chest, knocking him off the cruiser. He flew back and hit his head on a floating piece of wood. Garet swung his axe and split another man in half long-ways. Alex teleported behind the adversaries and kicked one as hard as possible. Picard launched his scimitar in the air, and it rooted itself in the torso of the man. The sword of Iodem sliced down the spinal column of another man who was looking in the wrong direction for an attack. With only one left, all of the sailors hopped aboard Felix's cruiser. Suddenly, the man raised his arm and fired a blast toward Sheba. "Sheba! Look out!" Ivan ran and pushed her out of the way of the fireball. Ivan took the full force of the explosion. He flew back through the wooden room known as the kitchen. Pots and pans were thrown all over the room. Ivan landed on the table and slid until he fell off of it. His body stopped sliding and just lay there. Splintered wood was sprawled all around him. "Garet returned his attention to the foe. "NOO!" The weapons of all those aboard were upon him, and his lifeless carcass fell over in a hunched position. Sheba ran toward Ivan, closely followed by Mia and the others. "Is he.?" Mia looked at her. "Alive? Yes, but barely. Isaac, Iodem, carry him to the cabin. Alex, Rachael, get every herb, every potion you can find. Felix, get me some bandages." Isaac and Iodem carefully lifted the body and carried it to Ivan's bed. Sheba began to cry. Jenna walked over to her and they hugged. "He'll be fine. Don't worry." Her sobbing slowed, and eventually subsided. "He saved me." Alex and Rachael returned, each with an armful of various items, and Felix rushed in after them. "Good. And you got some splints" Mia said. "Now help me with reviving him." Isaac stood up. "I'll help too. Picard, we will need a few Psy Crystals." Picard soon returned, and handed them to Isaac. A splash came from outside. Felix and Picard, weapons drawn, stormed out of the room. They saw Garet had thrown the dead bodies overboard, and had dove in the water himself. "Damn, Garet! What are you doing?!" "Well, I didn't want that jerk's dead corpse on the ship, and we will need to repair the kitchen wall with the wood from these useless ships. I mean, where else will we eat?" "You're a stupid idiot that eats too much." "Hey. Some armour and weapons. We might need those too. And we can trade them for food and money if we ever reach port." "Yup. I agree with you, Felix. A really stupid idiot."
Monday, April 11th.
Ivan awoke in pain and unable to move. "What's going on? What day is it? Why can't I move?" The sudden movements startled Mia. "IVAN! You're awake! How do you feel?" "Like the Venus Lighthouse just crumbled on top of me, then they build Babi Lighthouse on top of the rubble." Mia smiled. "Do you remember anything?" "Kind of. The fire clan attacked, and then the soldiers fought, and then one guy fired at Sheba! How is she? Is she hurt? Can I see her?" "Easy there. She wasn't hurt. You pushed her out of the way." "I did? Whoa. And that's why I can't move anything of mine, isn't it?" "That's right. Luckily Rachael and I were here. You were nearly dead." "Thanks, Mia. By the way, where is Sheba?" "Hold on. I'll go get her." Mia left the room, and Ivan could hear her shout, 'Ivan's awake!'" Cheers erupted from the other ships. Sheba ran into the room. "Ivan! How are you feeling?" she asked with a tear in her eye. "Okay, I guess. How long have I been out?" "Three days today. Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I can't seem to move anything though." "The blast broke half the bones in your body. You shouldn't want to move after that." Ivan smiled. "No, I guess you're right. How are you?" "Better now that your awake." She grabbed his hand. Ivan turned red. Jenna, Felix, Garet, and Isaac walked into the room. "Hey, Ivan. That was some crazy stuff you did. You okay?" Garet inquired. "I'm fine. How much closer are we to land? I want to at least get out of bed sometime soon." "We're about two weeks away still, if we've stayed on course. We've decided to stop at a small ocean-side city on the southeastern coast of Gondowan. There we can rest while on dry land. Mia and Rachael want to get more herbs and nuts, too" Felix announced. "Yeah. And there is a special tournament for Adepts in a city about a two week's walk from the port." Garet piped in. "Oh. Sounds like fun" was the response. "Well, thank goodness you're alive. Mia and Rachael had a real workout caring for you" Jenna said. Picard, Alex, and Rachael walked into the bunk. Garet turned to Isaac, Felix, and Jenna, and said, "We have to go back to work." He turned toward Ivan. "See you later." Felix and Jenna turned to Ivan. "Bye" they said in unison. Isaac waved and the four returned to their vessel. Picard just looked at Ivan. "You got some big ones, my friend." The five in the room laughed. Ivan glanced around. "Hope me being out hasn't slowed us down too much." "Not all that much. It's good to see you're moving again. You just lying there was freaking me out" Alex told him. A yell came from Mia. "Sheba! Can I talk to you for a second? You too, Picard! And bring Alex!" Picard turned to Ivan. "Get better soon." He left toward Mia's voice. Sheba looked at the temporarily paraplegic Adept. "Maybe this will help." She gave him a kiss on his cheek, and he blushed again. She left the room. Alex glanced toward Ivan. "I told you she noticed you. She has been sitting by you ever since Friday. Lucky man, you are." He left the room. Ivan smiled. "You have no idea."
Tuesday, April 12th.
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.
Ivan woke up yesterday. I am so excited! I am so happy he is alright. I got up the courage to give him a kiss, too. He seemed to like it. Tomorrow night I plan to stay up late and just talk with him. Mia's Ply and herbs have helped, and the fact that Ivan is an advanced Adept helped him get better twice as fast, so Mia said the casts can come off tonight! I can't wait until tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 13th.
Ivan was excused from all normal duties because of his ordeal. Anything short of psynergetic movements and abilities and talking caused him some degree of pain, so he tried to do as little movement as possible. He had washed his clothes, along with everyone else's, so that he would at least feel like he wasn't burdening anyone with his lack of work. Felix and Isaac kept making sure that he was still standing and hadn't collapsed under his own weight. They were surprised at how much he did under sheer willpower. Garet had fashioned him a set of crutches with the wood left over from repairing the kitchen wall. Picard had helped Garet complete the repairs to take his mind off of Ivan's condition during the time Isaac was is his comatose state. Garet, with all the gear he took from the cadavers of the fire clan, had made himself a sturdy coat-of-arms that would fetch a large sum of money. He also retrieved all of the ballistae bolts he could find that weren't charred to a crisp. His weapon collection grew to quite an impressive size. Ivan walked over to Garet. "How long do you think it would take you t make a small bench?" "Oh, about three hours. Why?" "Do you have enough wood to make one?" "Yeah. I salvaged all the wood I could get my hands on from the other wreckages. Why?" "I need you to do me a favor and make one as quickly as possible. It needs to seat two people." "No problem. It'll be done in about two and a half hours." "Thanks. I really appreciate it."
"Lunch time!" Alex heard from the kitchen. The crew of all three ships retreated to the Lemurian liner. The group decided it would be more efficient to use one kitchen for all the meals so that Mia could spend time returning Ivan to consciousness, so each ship took turns hosting meals. Now that Ivan was back, they continued in order to make everything more efficient. Felix sat at the head of the table. Jenna sat to his left, and Garet sat next to her. Next was Sheba, and Ivan took his seat by her side. Iodem plopped down to his left. Isaac was at Felix's right, and with him sat Rachael. Next was Alex, then Mia, and finally Picard.
They ate the meal with much noise, as usual. They talked about weather, ocean currents, wind patterns, and other unimportant things. Ivan and Sheba were relatively quiet, as usual, only speaking when they were asked a question or when their opinions had an impact on the others. No one noticed that Ivan was eating with only his left hand, while Sheba was eating only with her right.
After the meal, Sheba walked up to Mia as she washed the dishes. "Do you think you could bunk with Picard and Alex tonight? I want to talk to Ivan and I'm not sure how long it will take." "Sure. I don't see any problem with that. I'll just keep my staff handy in case either of them tries anything." The two girls laughed, and Sheba thanked her as she left the room.
With lunch complete, worked resumed. Garet stood at his post, scouring the horizon for any ships or land. Alex did the same, and Picard, Iodem, and Felix steered the ships so that they could stay on course. The others cleaned up around the decks and cabins. Isaac and Jenna had the cabins squeaky clean, and they had already started to scrub the decks when storm clouds began to roll in. "Put out the tubs and buckets! We are going to have rain!" Garet shouted. Isaac, Jenna, Alex, Mia, Sheba, Ivan, and Rachael put out everything that would be able to carry fresh water. Felix and Isaac traded turns steering their ship, and Picard and Alex did so on theirs. Garet offered to trade turns with Iodem, and Iodem accepted his gracious offer. Mia was shocked with Garet's generous offer. "Well," Garet revealed. "I am really trying to get on Jenna's good side." Ivan wanted to go up to Garet and say, "Tell me about it" but he restrained himself. Sheba had to run over to the kitchen, and when she returned, she was soaked and shivering. Ivan quickly removed his warm Feathered Robe and wrapped it around her. "Is that better?" he asked. She smiled and replied, "Yes. Thank you."
The rain subsided about two hours before nightfall. The group collected the fresh water and dumped it into the giant barrels they stored their drinking, cooking, and cleaning water in. "This should last us at least a week" Iodem said matter-of-factly.
Nightfall was coming, and oil lamps were lit. Ivan sat in bed, and Sheba lay in the cot across from him. They could hear Felix and Garet playing cards. Garet was a poor loser and was always complaining that Felix cheated. Picard and Alex were refining their teleportation techniques, and Mia was concocting another vial of her special remedy for Ivan. Iodem was sound asleep as usual, as was Jenna. Isaac was on Iodem's ship talking to Rachael, like he does quite often now. Ivan stood up and walked over to Sheba. He held her hand and led her out the door. They walked to the front of the ship, where Garet's bench was, sat down, and Ivan said, "Have you ever taken the time to just watch the sunset?" Sheba looked into his eyes. "Not really. I've never really leave the cabin after dinner, so I never had the chance."
Sheba and Ivan sat there for over an hour, just talking and enjoying themselves. They were covered in Ivan's robe, and had fallen asleep on the bench. Isaac, who had to cross over Picard's craft to get back to his own, saw the two and smiled. He thought to himself, "Kids these days." He turned around to look back to where Rachael was standing, and she waved at him. Isaac pointed to where Ivan and Sheba were, and Rachael smiled. Isaac returned to his cabin.
Thursday, April 14th.
Jenna was the first to wake up. She wandered outside and saw Ivan and Sheba cuddled up on the bench. She smiled to herself, and entered the kitchen to begin breakfast. Garet soon awoke and walked out of his cabin. The smell of fish filled his nose. He looked around, and saw the couple on the seat he made. "Now that's good craftsmanship," he thought. He followed the scent of food and entered the dining hall. He offered to help with the meal, and he quickly began go cut up the various vegetation they had stored with his short sword. "Garet! What are you doing?!" "I'm chopping the carrots. What does it look like?" Jenna slapped his arm lightly. "Ever heard of a knife?" "Kitchen knives are too small. I need a real blade." "Loser." "Hey. Don't start with me." They laughed. "You see Ivan and Sheba? They're so cute together," Jenna said. "Yeah. How long have they been like that? You know, all mushy and stuff?" "Grow up. They are more mature than you are." "I am grown up. I am just wondering how long they've been 'together'. I'm just curious." "Well, I don't know. I know she finally realized how much he like her after that fight." "Ah. That's all you needed to say." Isaac walked into the room. "Something smells good." "He can speak! It's a sign from the heavens, brothers and sisters!" Garet started to say like an evangelist. Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Shut up." Rachael entered and gave Isaac a smile. He smiled back. "Guess who's still there." Jenna looked at her. "Still?" Isaac looked at her. "Yeah. We saw them there last night." Jenna looked confused. "Last night? We? Oh, yeah. Never mind." Garet looked puzzled, as usual. Soon Ivan entered with Sheba. "Hey everyone. How's it going?" Garet glanced over. "Just fine. You?" "Same." "Good to hear." He was obviously trying not to laugh. Isaac punched Garet in the arm again. "What was that for?!" "Because I wanted to." Felix, obviously still tired, stumbled into the room. "Good morning." He almost tripped over a chair, and Isaac sat him down at the table. Picard, Mia, and Alex strolled into the room. "Ah, look who's awake" Mia said, looking toward Sheba and Ivan. "Hope you didn't stay up too late." Breakfast was almost ready by the time Iodem woke up. "I'm too old to be up this early." Everyone chuckled. They sat down and began to eat. Ivan had Mia's special remedy instead of water. It tasted horrible, but he choked it down. He seemed to feel a little better almost instantly. He had a glass of water to help get the taste of the medicine out of his mouth. They finished breakfast and cleaned up.
After breakfast Ivan offered to try and steer the Lemurian craft. Picard agreed to teach Ivan how to sail, and soon they were on their way. Ivan noticed a small, glowing rock by the steering wheel. "What's that?" he asked. "Psynergetic Amplifier. All Adept ships have them. It allows the ship to be moved with greater ease at the cost of less Psynergy. Makes driving a lot easier. But it needs to be planted in a sturdy place, because if it isn't, it may start to float. And we don't want that to fly away, do we?" "No. I guess not."
Alex saw a ship coming from straight ahead. Iodem saw it and hollered toward the others, "Don't worry. It has white sails. That means it's a merchant ship." Sighs of relief came from several people. They slowed down, and Iodem waved down the merchants. "Have you anything to trade?" he asked. The captain walked up. "Yes, actually. We found these odd crystals that we are willing to trade for some armour. He pulled out a handful of Psy Crystals. Mia recognized them immediately. "Hold on." She turned around. "Garet! Go and get some of the armour of yours!" Garet disappeared into the floating dormitory and returned with a fine piece of plate mail and a short sword. "You wouldn't happen to have any herbs, and some various food items, would you?" Mia asked. "Today is your lucky day, miss." He turned and nodded to another man, and he quickly disappeared below decks. He soon returned with a basket of food items and herbs. "Will you trade that food, herbs, and crystals for this armour and sword?" Mia inquired. "Certainly. We have been looking for some quality armour for some time now. Thank you." They exchanged items. He began to return to his ship until Iodem asked, "How far away is land?" The captain turned to him and said, "The last port we were at is straight ahead for you. It'll be about a week until you get there." Another round of sighs was heard. "Thank you" Iodem said. "It was out pleasure." He returned to his ship's helm and all four ships continued on their way. Mia stocked the supplies, and Garet waved goodbye to his war trophies.
The rest of the day's voyage continued without any interruptions, other than meals. Bunking returned to how it was before the big sea battle. Night fell, and once again the lamps were lit. Alex looked over towards Ivan. "Hey. So what exactly did you and Sheba do last night? I mean, you two wanted to be alone, right?" He nudged Picard, and they both started to chant, "Go Ivan, go Ivan." The three boys laughed, and said, "Nah. It isn't like that at all. Sheba's not like that." "Oh, I see Ivan is the little gentleman, isn't he?" More laughter.
Meanwhile, Garet and Felix had their usual card game, but this time Isaac and Jenna joined them. "Do you have any kings?" "Go fish." "YOU LIE! I KNOW YOU HAVE A KING!" Garet had his nightly temper tantrum until Felix revealed his hand. No kings were to be seen. "You hid it when my back was turned!" I win!" Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm, and Isaac and Felix dragged him out of the room kicking and screaming. The two tied him up with a length of rope to the large pole in the middle of the ship. "You can't do this to me! I am an important part of this team!" Felix turned his head. "You might want to get some sleep while you can." He laughed and the two hostage takers returned to the cabin. "What did you do with Garet?" Jenna asked. "Well, he's a bit tied up in things at the moment, so he won't be with us for the rest of the game." Felix laughed again. "You guys are so mean to Garet. Where did you stash him this time?" "I don't know what you're talking about" Felix said with a sly grin. Jenna left the room. "Garet! Where are you? Hey Garet!" A voice coming from her right responded "Over here! By the mast! S.O.S.!" She laughed to herself as she walked over to him. "I'll untie you only if you promise to stop accusing people of cheating." "But it keeps the game interesting." She started to turn away, but Garet said, "Okay, Okay. You win. I'll stop accusing people of cheating." She smiled. "Good! Now let's see that knot. Whoa. The really didn't want you to get out this time. This is a really hard knot!" "I have a knife under my mattress is my bunk, if you need it." "Hold on." She left the deck for a minute, and returned with his knife. "This should do it." "Hey. Watch where you're cutting. That's my ribcage right there!" "Stop whining." The ropes soon fell and Garet turned to her. "Thanks. I'll put the knife back." She handed over the knife. "Now, where are those two?" "Don't even think about it." Before she could finish her sentence Garet was off toward the cabins. She ran after him. He entered the room and gave his two assailants an evil stare. They laughed hysterically. He went to his bed and returned the blade. "You'll regret that." They laughed harder. Jenna rushed into the room. "Oh, good. He hasn't gone berserk."
Friday, April 15th.
Isaac and Felix awoke unable to move. During the night Garet, with some assistance from Jenna, had tied them to their beds. "This isn't funny!" Felix shouted. Laughs were heard from the kitchen. "Yes, it is!" Garet returned. "Untie me right now! I'm warning you!" "Are you now?" Isaac has managed to loosen the restraints enough to get one arm free. He grabbed his sword and slit the rope. After he freed himself, he cut Felix's rope. They barged in the kitchen, and Garet and Jenna turned around. "I knew I should have moved the weapons. Oh well. Too late now." He began to laugh. Felix had an angry look on his face. "Never do that again." "What goes around comes around." Isaac sat down at his usual spot. Alex entered the room. "What was all that noise? It's like a stampede just ran through here!" "Nothing important." Garet laughed harder.
After the morning meal, work again recommenced. Ivan, who had given up on trying to learn to sail, had began to wash the dirty clothes. Sheba, having finished all her daily chores early, helped Mia with hers. When they were done, they left to go talk with Rachael. "So, what's the deal with you and Isaac?" Mia posed. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound surprised. "Come on. We all know about him staying up late and going over to your boat. Spill it." "Nothing is going on between us." "Oh, right." The three girls laughed. "Fine. He and I, well, we are kind of, well, I don't know how to explain it." "It's like Sheba and Ivan, right?" Sheba glanced over. "How did I get into this?" "I needed an example, and you're the best ones I know." "Well, it is a little more than Sheba and Ivan." "A little more? Like, how much more? You didn't..." "Of course not." "Then why the attempt at secrecy?" "You know Isaac. Always the shy one." "True." Isaac was walking past. He saw the trio of females and tried to act like he didn't notice them. "Hey, Isaac!" Mia called. "Come here real quick. Just for a sec." Isaac reluctantly hopped over from one ship to the other, nearly taking a swim and landing with a face full of wood. Rachael rushed over to him and helped him regain his balance. "You alright?" "I'm fine." "No you're not. Your chin's bleeding." He took out a small handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his chin. "Now it isn't. Why'd you call me over?" "Well," Mia began, "we all know that you two have been staying up late together. Why didn't you tell us?" "Well, you never asked, did you? And anyway, I was going to. I just never got the chance. How did you all know?" Sheba and Mia looked at him with that 'are you kidding me?' glance. "It was sort of obvious, especially when you had to cross our ship to get back to yours." "Oh, yeah, right. Who else knows?" "Well, Picard, Alex, Ivan, and Jenna for sure. I'm not sure about Felix or Iodem." "Whoa. All of them? At least not Garet. Who knows how long it would take for him to shut up about us." A yell came from Felix's ship. "Hey, Isaac! Stop flirting and get your tail over here. I need that knife from my room." "See my point?"
After dinner on Iodem's ship, Garet, Felix, Isaac, and Jenna were once again playing cards. Garet looked up. "Isaac. Do you have any threes?" "Go fish." "WHA-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Jenna's foot smashed into his, and he did his best not to yell out in pain. He let out a small whimper. His trembling had picked up a card. Felix looked at Garet in surprise. 'Hmm. No whining. What did Jenna do to him? Threaten to beat him up?' he thought to himself. The game continued until it was once again Garet's turn. "Felix. Do you have any sixes?" "Go fish." Garet didn't make a sound. He just picked up another card, his hand still trembling. Felix was in pure shock. 'What the heck is going on?' he wondered. The rest of the game went on without a problem, with Garet as silent as a mouse unless it was his turn or he was asked for a card. He even gave the cards out without any accusations.
After the game, Jenna walked up to Garet. "Sorry about your foot. How is it right now?" Garet peeked over to her. "Okay, I guess. And I want it to stay that way. Please don't hurt me." Jenna laughed. "I'm not. At least, not tonight. Now, get to bed. Your parents would kill me if they knew how late I'm letting you stay up." They both laughed, and Garet stood up to go to his cabin. "Oh, Garet. Sorry about your foot. But we had a deal, and you were going to break it." "Don't worry about it. It might heal sometime soon. Hopefully."
Saturday, April 16th.
For once, Garet was the first awake. He left the lodging and stared out across the ocean. Jenna, awakened by the din that was Garet, soon joined him. "I've been on this stupid boat too long. I need to see some dry land." "Don't we all. But we should only be adrift for another four days. It isn't that long." "It's too long for me." "Don't worry about it." She gave him a hug, and left for the kitchen. Garet stayed a minute and then turned around to see Isaac. "Oh, hey Isaac." "Hey Garet. Why are you up so early?" "I just woke up." "Oh." Just then Ivan exited his cabin and saw them. He walked over. "Hey guys." "Hey Ivan. How's everything?" "Peachy. Why?" "Don't know. Just wondering." The group saw Mia wandering around the deck with her eyes closed. Garet looked at Ivan with a 'what the heck is going on' look. Ivan just said casually, "Sometimes Mia sleepwalks. Nothing too serious, but being cramped up on this ship has caused her mind to want more movement. I'll just go and put her back to bed." He ran over to her and led her to her cot, and laid her down. Next to Mia's bunk, Sheba stirred. "Sleepwalking again?" "Yup. You should lock the door at night to keep her from falling overboard." "Okay. Hey, what time is it?" "I don't exactly know. The sun came up about thirty minutes ago though." "Really? I'm ready to get up now then." "Alright. Breakfast is cooking right now. Should I wake the others?" "Sure. I go with you. But we can let Mia rest for a few more minutes, right?" "Of course. You don't want a hostile Mia. It can be hazardous to your health." They left for the other sleeping compartment to wake Alex and Picard.
Meanwhile, Garet looked at Isaac. "What's with you staying up late? I never know where you go, but it kind of freaks me out. "I'm just going for..." He paused to think. "A swim. I need to start moving around, and it's a good workout." "Hmm. Good idea. But you have all the time to do that during the day. Why not swim then?" Isaac froze. Then an idea came to his mind. "Well, I'm not exactly what you would call 'tan' so I am trying not to scare off anyone." "Good point. Well, just do what I do. Go to the top of the crow's nest and tan there. No one sees you so no one has a problem with it." Caught without an escape, he said the only thing he could. "Okay. I'll take over the lookout post today, if that's alright with you." "Sure. Go ahead." Ivan was walking toward Isaac and Garet. Along with him strode Sheba, Alex and Picard. The six began talking again, and Rachael and Iodem joined them. Felix stuck his head out of the doorway and shouted, "Breakfast is ready." The group began to move toward the kitchen, until Sheba remembered about Mia. "Someone needs to go get her." Picard looked up. "I will." He rushed over, and the others entered the cafeteria. Picard soon returned with Mia and sat her down in her usual seat. Ivan and Garet looked at each other, then at Picard. Garet glanced down and just nodded his head 'no'. Ivan heard Garet thinking, 'Nah. Couldn't be who Felix was talking about with a 'secret relationship.' He seemed to project it through the room because he was thinking so hard. Sheba seemed to notice it too, because she peeked at him. Ivan had to restrain himself to keep from cracking up. He and Sheba knew that Felix had learned about Isaac and Rachael, but luckily, Garet didn't.
After the morning's feast of ham and eggs, Isaac climbed up to Garet's post to retain the illusion that he swam at night. He even braved being seen by others and took his shirt off to tan. The high lookout post was tall enough so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone on the deck, but he noticed Alex laughing hysterically when he saw Isaac. Isaac retorted with an evil stare, and ignored the loud snickering until it stopped.
Garet, now able to walk around more, left to the back of the ship to work out. His routine consisted of push-ups, curl-ups, and running around and jumping from ship to ship. After that, he went into his cabin and returned in only a pair of cotton shorts. He went to the front of the ship and began to swim, but he wasn't nearly as fast as the small fleet. In less that a minute he was struggling to get to the ladder five feet in front of him. "Hey, guys! Do you think you could toss a rope for me?" Jenna peered over the railing. "What are you doing down there, and why aren't you up at your post? And where the heck did Isaac go?" "I'll be happy to explain as soon as you toss me a rope." Jenna entered the storage area and returned a long, good rope. After tying one end to the railing, she grabbed the other end and tossed it into the water. "Catch!" The rope landed a foot from him and he grabbed it. After pulling himself up, he flopped over the railing, breathing hard and obviously tired. "Thanks. I owe you one." "Why were you down there, and where is Isaac?" Garet pointed to where Isaac was, and then said, "It was getting hot, so I went for a swim. Now I know why Isaac swims at night. Nothing to keep up to." "Isaac doesn't sw-" She caught herself in mid sentence. "Oh, yeah. He does, doesn't he?" She left the panting Garet there, and left to her room. Garet returned to his and put his clothes back on.
Ivan exited the kitchen on the Lemurian ship. "We don't have enough water for lunch today. I'm going to need to summon a storm! Everyone put out the buckets and barrels!" Everyone sprang into action, taking everything inside below decks and bringing bucket after bucket to collect water.
After preparations were made, Ivan walked to the bow of the craft. He raised his staff and shouted loudly, "Winds of Jupiter, Waters of Mercury, I summon you forth! Fall at my command!" Rain clouds almost instantaneously appeared, the temperature dropped, and a hard rain began to fall. Ivan turned around. "Well, that was fun."
Isaac commanded Iodem's ship for him. Last storm Iodem came down with a nasty cold, and so Isaac steered through the entire thing. Garet offered to control Felix's craft, and Felix agreed. 'At least I don't have to get wet this time,' he thought.
Alex and Picard traded places guiding the Lemurian vessel, while Ivan cooked and retrieved the water he needed. The storm didn't last long, and they were able to restock their supply of water. The excess water was tossed overboard, and work resumed. Ivan finished cooking the meal, and once again eating commenced.
Tuesday, April 19th.
Everyone was anxious. It had been six days since they met up with the merchant ship. All were getting sick of the long sea voyage, save Picard. Being an islander, he was always attracted to the ocean.
Lunch was already over, and Isaac saw Picard with his eyes closed steering the ship. "It helps if you can see where you are going." Picard opened his eyes. I can, even with my eyes closed. All Adept ships from Lemuria have a special ability. If you channel Psynergy pulses into the Psynergetic Amplifier with your eyes closed, you can get sort of a sonar effect. The merchant was right. The closest port of land is dead ahead, about another day or so away." "Whoa. You can do that with this thing? That's the trick you were talking about before we first set sail." "Yup. It's hard, though, to keep the ship moving and use the sonar simultaneously. And it can only receive from on source at a time. It's a real mental workout."
Wednesday, April 20th.
Nobody was able to get any sleep last night. Even Garet, who is so deep a sleeper you could kick his ribs and he wouldn't stir, had trouble resting. Everyone knew how hostile Mia got when she didn't have her sleep, so everyone prayed she at least had some, even if it was just an hour's worth. Every little bit helped. She stepped out into the light. Her hair was messy, and she didn't look happy. Garet braved certain death and walked up to her. "Hey, Mia. We should hit land today." She turned her head and grabbed him by the shirt. "Well, isn't that special?" Her other hand flew up and also grabbed his shirt. She took a few steps toward the side and threw Garet overboard. "Damn. There wasn't any land there." She turned her head toward Felix and said, "What are you looking at!?" He instantly ran toward his bunk and stayed there until Isaac called him and Jenna for breakfast. Garet was already at the table, cowering in fear, still wet because he was too scared to come out of the water until Isaac said it was safe.
Mia seemed much happier after she had breakfast, and Garet already changed into dry clothes. He washed all his dirty laundry, which wasn't much because everyone had only brought two sets of clothes. Oddly, both sets were identical, so no one knew which set was which. After cleaning his, he offered to clean everyone else's too. Isaac, who took Garet's post as lookout man, thought he saw something in the distance. "Hey, Alex! You see that thing all the way over there?" he shouted. Everyone looked up toward where Isaac was pointing. "Yeah. I see it! You thinking what I'm thinking?" "I hope so. Everyone, pack up. We see land!" Everyone free at the moment went to put away all they had, and Mia stashed all the food and herbs they had in her sack. Garet rushed to make sure all his weapons were in their racks, and everyone got their armour and weapons out.
After another hour, they finally pulled into port. The man at the docks spoke the same language as everyone else, and all sighed in relief. "How long you all planning to store these ships here for? I charge ten gold pieces a day." Felix covered Garet's mouth, knowing that he would try to barter and end up getting them an even higher rate. "We don't know yet. When we return, we'll pay you in full. Here's one hundred gold to start." The man happily accepted the money, then wrote something down on his book he was holding.
The next order of business was to buy fresh food and more herbs. They found the item shop, and bought several elixirs as well. Mia had insisted Garet sell his weapons, but he wanted to keep them. "They are part of my collection." She looked at him and said, "Do you want to add your broken teeth to your collection?" They earned over two thousand gold coins for the items, and Garet kept his smile as it was.
"Ah," Felix said as he unpacked his sleeping bag. "No more up and down, up and down. Nice, sturdy land." Night had already fallen, and everyone was tired. Garet, Isaac, Alex, Ivan, and Picard took turns on lookout. They were used to being attacked by small creatures trying to take their food. Garet took first watch, because he never was a morning person. Isaac couldn't sleep at all. He walked over closer to the campfire. "Not tired?" "Not yet. I'm still wide awake." "Well, I'm bored out of my mind." He glimpsed over toward Jenna. "You ever think a guy like her and a girl like me could ever work out together?" Isaac looked at him puzzled. "Err, maybe. Only if you really like trading places." Garet eventually caught his mistake. "You know what I meant." "Still, maybe. I don't know. Just ask her." "Right. Just ask her. What do you know about girls?" A low sound came from a few feet away from the clearing they were in. "Which way did that come from?" "I think it was behind where Felix is." Isaac rushed over to his sleeping bag and grabbed the sword that was next to it. "Couldn't be too big, could it?" The same sound was heard again. "It sounds like a dog, doesn't it Isaac?" "Yup. Maybe it's a Wolf. I always wanted to see what they look like." Right then, a large dog-like animal was thrown from the woods. It had deep scratches on its back and hind legs. A large cat-like beast hopped out from the trees behind it. Isaac sprang into action. "Isaac! What are you doing?!" His shout woke up everyone but Iodem. They looked around and saw the two creatures fighting and Isaac tempting fate by getting closer. The sleepers sprang to their feet with their weapons in hand. Rachael acquired a short sword from Garet before they left the ships, and even some unequipped chain mail. They made a circle around the two fighting monsters and were ready to attack anything that got too close. The ferocious feline jumped at the canine. Isaac ducked and rolled by the dog and, with his sword, impaled the airborne cat. He then turned toward Mia. "You think we can fix this puppy up?" "I guess so, but why? It's wild, and will probably attack us." "Nah. Just give it an herb to heal and we can leave before it is fully recovered." "I guess, but you're taking care of it. And it's just for tonight. Now, what are we going to do with that cat?" Garet thought for a second. "Mmm, beefy." "Eeew. That's nasty. You want to eat it?" Sheba said, obviously disgusted. "Well, we can't let good meat go to waste. And we can smoke it so that it will last longer. We can make kitten jerky." Garet walked over and pulled out his knife from his belt as the others went back to sleep. Isaac carried the injured canine to the fire and bandaged it with herbs. Garet proceeded to skin the cat neatly and remove all the meat he could. The claws were saved so that he could add them to his new weapons collection, and the skin he cleaned and also smoked.
Thursday, April 21st.
The next morning, the dog was still asleep, the food was finished smoking, and the pelt was completely clean. Garet rolled the skin and claws up with the rest of his belongings, and stored the new meat with the rest of the food. They left, allowing the injured pooch to wake up without human interference.
Isaac was obviously distracted at lunch. The new addition to the food reserves was surprisingly delicious, but Isaac still kept to himself a bit more than usual. Rachael sat down next to him. "Still thinking about that dog thing?" "Yup. I think it was a wolf. I've never seen one before though." "I don't know. I've never seen one either." "Hmm. I just wonder if I'll ever see another one. They're supposed to be very afraid of humans." "Well, you never know. Anyway, at least you have seen it. Some people never even see one."
The group finished lunch and continued their journey. Isaac seemed a little happier knowing that he at least saw it. Suddenly, a loud roar shot out from the forest to the group's left. A Manticore hopped out with its tail poised to strike. "The venom in that tail can paralyze you in less than a minute. Watch out." Mia stated. Abruptly another creature exposed itself behind the first creature. It was in the shadows, so no one was able to identify it without questionable accuracy. The unknown beast moved with inhuman swiftness. It was upon the Manticore in less than a second, and tore its tail off. A shriek ripped through the air, emanating from the hurting Manticore. It spun around to face the attacker, and Picard jumped toward the tailless animal. His scimitar punctured through the tough hide with ease. The sword pierced the Manticore's liver, and Picard forced the weapon through the ribs of his 'steed'. Another cry of pain was the final sound heard for several minutes after that.
The unknown creature walked up to Garet. It snatched the chunk of cat jerky out of his hand. Garet jumped back. "It's that thing again!" After the small meal, the wolf went up to Isaac and licked his hand. "I think you found a new pet!" Jenna said cheerfully. "Is that good or bad?" was the response. Garet looked at it. "Well, if it is going to steal my food, then bad." The group continued walking, still puzzled by how it found them. "What are you going to name it, Isaac?" Sheba inquired. "I don't know. Hmm. What do you think I should call it?" Garet, never taking his eyes off of it, said, "How about Temporary?" Jenna laughed. "Suck it up, Garet. You're just mad because it ate your jerky. Pig." "I'll just call it Fang until I can think of another name for it." "How original." Garet was obviously hostile toward their new four-legged companion.
That night, they set up camp as usual. Isaac's new pet marked its territory with the help of a few trees, and familiarized itself with the other members of the party. Garet tried to stay away from it, although it did end up learning Garet's scent.
After supper, everyone was getting ready for sleep. Picard was taking the first watch, so he stayed up by the fire. Fang was given another herb. When Rachael laid down next to Isaac for bed, Fang started to growl by Isaac's feet. "Shhh." Isaac whispered loudly toward it. The creature quieted down and put its head back between its paws.
Friday, April 22nd.
Isaac woke up later than normal. He had take his shift, and stayed up a little longer looking at his new friend. "Hey, Mia. When you were in Imil, did you ever see any wolves?" "Yeah. They looked a bit like that, but not as big. And this one looks different." "I know. I think it might be part wolf, part cerberus, part fenrir. They have been known to breed like that." "Maybe. But then it would be much more ferocious, wouldn't it?" "Well, what do you call ripping a Manticore's tail off?" "True, true." Isaac left to pack the rest of the camp's equipment. "Hey, Garet. Come here." Garet jogged over. "Yeah, what is it?" "Tonight, don't chop so much firewood. We are in the woods, so it isn't difficult to find it. And it will lighten our load a bit." "Fine. But we need to make sure that we have some dry wood in case it rains." "Agreed. Now, we may need to go hunting every so often, so keep your knife sharp." "Alright. Do I get to trash stuff?" "Yes, you get to trash stuff." "Sweet!"
Saturday, April 23rd.
"Happy Birthday, Isaac!" Isaac jumped from his sleeping bag. "Huh? Oh, yeah." "Happy Birthday! You're finally eighteen!" "Yeah. I am. Thanks you guys." Rachael hugged him. "Happy Birthday." Isaac smiled. "Well, when do we depart?" "As soon as breakfast is over."
After breakfast, Garet approached Isaac, carrying a small object. "Hey, Isaac. I was thinking, you always get yourself into trouble, and woods hasn't been your good-luck-charm, so I made this." He revealed a small, handheld weapon with a wooden handle. On the end was one of the claws of the cat he had slain to protect Fang. "Thanks, Garet. I'm sure it will be really useful."
Sunday, April 24th.
Excerpt from the Journal of Picard.
Isaac's new 'pet' has become a really good asset. It can carry some of our luggage, but we don't pack it with much. When we cross paths with an animal recently there, it automatically knows. At night, it is aware of all movements and sounds. And, it is really loyal to us. We are lucky we found it when we did. The Manticore we ran into could have given one of us a nasty sting.
Tuesday, April 26th.
The nightfall came sooner than expected. The group had begun the ascent of a large mountain. A small cart path that winded up made the trek easier. They were able to find a good-sized cave that seemed to be abandoned. Garet and Alex had scoured the entire inside of the cave, and found nothing to worry them. The fire was lit, and a small torch was made with a long stick and a piece of old torn cloth. Picard kept pacing back and forth with his scimitar in one hand and the torch in the other. "Wha-?" Mia sat up. "Oh. Hey Mia. What's wrong?" "Nothing. Bad dream." "Oh. Well, you should get some sleep. It will probably get a lot steeper as we get higher up the mountain." "Yeah. I guess so. Hey, can I ask you something." "Okay. What's your query?" "How do you get by with so little sleep? I mean, I just have to have sleep or I become, um, unhappy." "Well, I'm just used to it by now." "Oh." She got up and walked over to him. "Why were you sent to light the lighthouses? Felix never told us why he needed to." "Well, once the lighthouse of a certain element has been lit, it releases that element upon the earth. Leaving a lighthouse unlit while the others are will mess up the balance of the elements. Without balance, a certain element could dominate the others." "I see. So, in order to keep the balance, you have to light all of the lighthouses. That seems logical." "That's what the elders teach on Lemuria." "Oh. Well, I'm going back to sleep." "Okay. It's time for Garet's watch, so I am too." He walked over to Garet and shook him. "Hey, wake up." Garet stirred. "Huh? Aww, man. And I was just about to finish off Saturos all by myself." "Sorry, but back in reality, you need to go on watch." He left Garet and curled into his sleeping bag.
Friday, April 29th.
They group had already started the descent down the other side of the mountain. The cool mountain seemed to invigorate everyone, and the downhill slope sped up the journey. A loud screech came from above. The crowd looked up in time to see a wild Gryphon waging war on several small Carrion Birds. The Carrion Birds seemed to e winning, beating the Gryphon to the ground. The group rushed to the landing site several hundred meters behind them.
Once there, they saw a flock of Carrion Vultures getting ready to feast on the Gryphon. Ivan rushed over to the unconscious bird and examined it. "Hey, Mia! Rachael! Come here real quick!" The two approached cautiously. "What is it?" "You think this Gryphon can be helped?" "Maybe. But its wing is definitely broken. It won't be able to fly for a while. And a grounded Gryphon is pretty much a dead Gryphon." "Fine. But we can help it a bit, right?" "It's possible. Here. Put this on its cuts. We can bandage the wing, but not much more can be done." "Okay." They put did what they could, and they tried to carry it back to the others. Garet piped up. "What are we, the vet?" Fang began to growl, until Isaac went over and helped to carry the creature. "Great. Another mouth to feed. Now we have two wild animals that eat nothing but meat following us." "Stop complaining, Garet." Jenna retorted. The group didn't go very much farther that day. The excess 'luggage' kept them from moving fast. They set up camp as usual, and ate. After dinner, they slept.
Saturday, April 30th.
The team woke up as usual, except for the fact that they were one more unit heavy. The Gryphon had awakened, but completely unable to fly. It cawed and cawed as it flapped its wings trying to become airborne. Ivan and Sheba was able to calm it down by mind reading it and finding out the problem. They approached it slowly, and it quieted down. Ivan turned toward Sheba. "You think we should make it think like we are friends and it has known us for a while?" "Sure. And we will need to make Fang like it too." "Agreed. I'll work on this, while you go work on Fang." The two looked at the animals and the creatures calmed down greatly. They didn't even notice each other anymore. Gryphon followed Ivan and Sheba around much more. The Gryphon was male, and an outcast from another flock. While Isaac and friends were Fang's pack, they were also the bird's new flock. Garet looked obviously annoyed. "Now we are the traveling circus. Why do we have to keep these things?" "Because it is the right thing to do." Ivan replied. "Right. Now we have to save everything we see?" "Not exactly. Just do what we can." "Ah. Of course."
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.
It's been two days since Iodem joined us. He seems to be sincere, but I still don't fully trust him. Hopefully he will be of some use to us other than his maps, but until then, I am keeping a close watch on him. Ivan seems to be acting weird when he is around me. Boys, I just don't want to know. Anyway, I have been getting bored with all this sailing, and we haven't seen land since we left Lemuria. Iodem claims that he had been on water for over two weeks before he ran into us. We have been trying to ration out food, but it hasn't helped much. I hope we don't run out before we run find land. Water hasn't been a problem, because every time we get low, Ivan summons a small storm and we are set for several days. Mia was experimenting with some healing items and has come up with a mixture that revives, heals, and cleanses poison. Good thing we have her with us.
Tuesday, April 5th.
Excerpt from the diary of Mia.
Iodem seems really nervous for some reason. His men seem to be wanting a fight. No matter where they go and what they do, they carry around their swords and armour. Rachael is the only girl that Iodem brought with him. She is a really good cook, and I think she used to work at a sanctum because she has a lot of herbs and elixirs. She even let me have some! Isaac has taken to her, and has even said more than five words in a single day!
Friday, April 8th.
The fleet started sailing earlier that usual. Breakfast was hearty and delicious, thanks to the food Iodem had brought along. They still rationed themselves, but not nearly as much as they used to. Suddenly, a shout emitted from the crow's nest of Liam's second ship. Joshua had seen something. Alex teleported up to his post as Garet, Bahzell, and Jonathan scrambled to theirs. They never expected to see what they did. Four vessels, one Lemurian, were sailing directly towards them. There were at least six men per ship. Even though Isaac and company outnumbered them, only half of their allies were Adepts. More than likely all aboard the Fire Clans' ships were Adepts, and angry at that. The flotilla of five turned hard to starboard side and readied their ballistae. The twenty-two men aboard the vessels looked at each other, not sure what to expect. Suddenly, the Adepts stepped forward and cast their most powerful spells. "Ragnarok!" "Pyroclasm!" "Spark Plasma!" "Ice Missile!" "Stone Barrage!" "Dragon Claw!" "Tempest!" "Frozen Wall!" "Ice Bolt!"
All attacks hit their targets, and one enemy vessel began to quickly sink. The crew jumped onto a ship next to the wreckage.
The non-adepts just looked at the Psynergists with awe. "Get ready!" Iodem barked. "Those guys can do that too!" Several soldiers ran to the lower decks, shouting, "The ballistae are ready to fire! Waiting for your signal!" "Not yet!" Iodem hollered. "We need to make each shot count!" The ships came closer. "FIRE AT WILL!" A barrage of steel-tipped bolts flew from the sides of the ships. All watched and hoped that they would do enough damage to at least scare away their assailants. The bolts penetrated the hulls of the ships, but not nearly enough damage was dealt to sink anything. The ships continued to advance.
Isaac glanced toward Garet. "We need some defense. Get everyone their armour!" Ivan stepped up. "We can do better. We have djinn." All at once, the three boys unleashed Granite, Flash, Corona, Forge, Breeze, and Zephyr. The army was protected by firewalls and earthen barriers. Their defense rose along with their agility and attack. "Now, we are ready to fight." Iodem hollered, "FIRE AGAIN!" Another barrage of bolts bellowed from the ships. Garet yelled, "Flame Wall!" Picard, stunned that Garet would do such a thing, turned toward him. "Are you crazy!?" Felix piped in, "No. Look at the bolts! They are on fire!" Picard turned just in time to watch the flaming arrow to crash into the hull of one of the ships. "Hmm." Another set of bolts spewed from the side. The ships were close enough for the army to get a good view. A bolt impaled an adept in the chest, throwing him back twenty feet and impaling another. Another bolt tore through the skull of another adept and crashed into the post the crow's nest was atop.
The flaming ship made a direct collision course with Liam's ship. "Nooo!" he shouted as he ran to his vessel. A crash was eminent, but the foolish man kept trying to save his ship. It caught fire and the crash split the hull. Engulfed in their rage for the loss of the ship, Cai, Barque, Liam, Duke, and Joshua charged aboard the enemy craft. Viciously they tore through the men aboard. Never before had anyone seen such carnage. The men hacked down every man without thought or restraint. One man had his arm sliced off with surgical precision, followed by a stroke that pierced the man's heart. Another had been cut through the gut, completely separating his top half from his lower. In an attempt to flee, another was hit in the back with the thrown sword of the angry Liam. A sneaky adept was ably to get behind Cai, and broke his neck with his hands. Grapping the dead man's sword, he assaulted Duke and stabbed him in the back of the head. Barque saw another trying to jump to a fellow ship, and so just before the leap, he severed the man's legs off. The legless man flew off the side of the ship and landed in the water. A shark quickly thanked Barque by devouring the man zealously. Joshua had impaled two others with his Trident. Suddenly, Joshua fell to his knees, dead from the wound caused by an enemy sword.. Barque saw the attacker and decapitated him with ease. The final man aboard climbed up to the crow's nest. Liam and Barque retreated to their own vessel and emptied all contents or both the sinking vessels onto the deck of Felix's ship. Both Liam's vessel and the flaming one sank, and the poor soul trapped atop the crow's nest attempted to swim to a friendly craft, but Liam knocked him unconscious with a large piece of wood he threw. Sharks quickly made him into a nice meal.
Another vessel was coming within range for her crew to board Iodem's second ship. Auger and Bahzell unsheathed their swords and charged. Barque and Liam were not far behind. Jonathan and Christopher joined them aboard Liam's vessel, and jumped onto the invading liner. A wall of fire consumed Liam and Auger, incinerating them instantly. Barque and Bahzell hacked away at the flame user vivaciously, then turned toward another crewman. The claymore carried by Christopher severed the right arm and leg of the unsuspecting man. Jonathan's foot finished the job, crushing the adept's chest and stopping his heart. A long scythe swung around the corner of the cabin, imbedding itself into the face of Christopher. Jonathan swung his axe and emptied the contents of the unknown man's chest out onto the deck. Aaron, who had hopped aboard after the other six, hurled his javelin into the chest of an oncoming clan member. Immediately he ran and retrieved his weapons, just in time to be smashed in the head by an unfamiliar mace.
Another barrage of bolts shot from the ballistae. Impaling another adept aboard the vessel Bahzell was on, a bolt suddenly changed direction from the new burden and fell. It punctured the bottom the ship, and the liner began to take on water. A stray bolt hammered Jonathan in the arm, severing it off but not killing Jonathan. With his remaining arm, he hurled his javelin across the water at the other enemy sea vehicle. It hit its mark, piercing the heart of an inattentive warrior. Bahzell took a stroke at the remaining warrior on the sinking vessel with his broad sword, dealing much damage but not killing him. The soldier struck back, swinging his sword. It was blocked with Bahzell's blade, and Bahzell swung his sword through the stomach of the soldier. Intestines painted the wooden floor red. The one- armed soldier attempted to return to Felix's boat, but was hit with his own javelin in mid flight. Jonathan plunged into the now red water.
The final opposing ship rammed into the remaining ship once commanded by Aaron. Bahzell hurdled onto the boat, but two swords were quickly boring into his flesh. A severed artery shot blood across the deck as he fell to the ground. Cai, Duke, and Robert attempted to slay the group of Fire Clan mariners, but they met the same fate as Bahzell. Ivan and Mia quickly put several djinn on stand-by, and then summoned Atlanta and Neptune. A shower of arrows rained from the sky, almost completely decimating the unfriendly boat. Five of the six crewmen made it to the abandoned sinking allied ship, but one arrow crashed into an unfortunate person, tearing him to pieces and leaving nothing but small shreds of flesh. The water from Neptune crashed into the boat now occupied by antagonistic forces, dooming it to become underwater wreckage. Isaac and Felix lunged forward and detached a man's arms. The man stumbled backwards and Mia's mace smashed into his chest, knocking him off the cruiser. He flew back and hit his head on a floating piece of wood. Garet swung his axe and split another man in half long-ways. Alex teleported behind the adversaries and kicked one as hard as possible. Picard launched his scimitar in the air, and it rooted itself in the torso of the man. The sword of Iodem sliced down the spinal column of another man who was looking in the wrong direction for an attack. With only one left, all of the sailors hopped aboard Felix's cruiser. Suddenly, the man raised his arm and fired a blast toward Sheba. "Sheba! Look out!" Ivan ran and pushed her out of the way of the fireball. Ivan took the full force of the explosion. He flew back through the wooden room known as the kitchen. Pots and pans were thrown all over the room. Ivan landed on the table and slid until he fell off of it. His body stopped sliding and just lay there. Splintered wood was sprawled all around him. "Garet returned his attention to the foe. "NOO!" The weapons of all those aboard were upon him, and his lifeless carcass fell over in a hunched position. Sheba ran toward Ivan, closely followed by Mia and the others. "Is he.?" Mia looked at her. "Alive? Yes, but barely. Isaac, Iodem, carry him to the cabin. Alex, Rachael, get every herb, every potion you can find. Felix, get me some bandages." Isaac and Iodem carefully lifted the body and carried it to Ivan's bed. Sheba began to cry. Jenna walked over to her and they hugged. "He'll be fine. Don't worry." Her sobbing slowed, and eventually subsided. "He saved me." Alex and Rachael returned, each with an armful of various items, and Felix rushed in after them. "Good. And you got some splints" Mia said. "Now help me with reviving him." Isaac stood up. "I'll help too. Picard, we will need a few Psy Crystals." Picard soon returned, and handed them to Isaac. A splash came from outside. Felix and Picard, weapons drawn, stormed out of the room. They saw Garet had thrown the dead bodies overboard, and had dove in the water himself. "Damn, Garet! What are you doing?!" "Well, I didn't want that jerk's dead corpse on the ship, and we will need to repair the kitchen wall with the wood from these useless ships. I mean, where else will we eat?" "You're a stupid idiot that eats too much." "Hey. Some armour and weapons. We might need those too. And we can trade them for food and money if we ever reach port." "Yup. I agree with you, Felix. A really stupid idiot."
Monday, April 11th.
Ivan awoke in pain and unable to move. "What's going on? What day is it? Why can't I move?" The sudden movements startled Mia. "IVAN! You're awake! How do you feel?" "Like the Venus Lighthouse just crumbled on top of me, then they build Babi Lighthouse on top of the rubble." Mia smiled. "Do you remember anything?" "Kind of. The fire clan attacked, and then the soldiers fought, and then one guy fired at Sheba! How is she? Is she hurt? Can I see her?" "Easy there. She wasn't hurt. You pushed her out of the way." "I did? Whoa. And that's why I can't move anything of mine, isn't it?" "That's right. Luckily Rachael and I were here. You were nearly dead." "Thanks, Mia. By the way, where is Sheba?" "Hold on. I'll go get her." Mia left the room, and Ivan could hear her shout, 'Ivan's awake!'" Cheers erupted from the other ships. Sheba ran into the room. "Ivan! How are you feeling?" she asked with a tear in her eye. "Okay, I guess. How long have I been out?" "Three days today. Are you okay?" "I'm fine. I can't seem to move anything though." "The blast broke half the bones in your body. You shouldn't want to move after that." Ivan smiled. "No, I guess you're right. How are you?" "Better now that your awake." She grabbed his hand. Ivan turned red. Jenna, Felix, Garet, and Isaac walked into the room. "Hey, Ivan. That was some crazy stuff you did. You okay?" Garet inquired. "I'm fine. How much closer are we to land? I want to at least get out of bed sometime soon." "We're about two weeks away still, if we've stayed on course. We've decided to stop at a small ocean-side city on the southeastern coast of Gondowan. There we can rest while on dry land. Mia and Rachael want to get more herbs and nuts, too" Felix announced. "Yeah. And there is a special tournament for Adepts in a city about a two week's walk from the port." Garet piped in. "Oh. Sounds like fun" was the response. "Well, thank goodness you're alive. Mia and Rachael had a real workout caring for you" Jenna said. Picard, Alex, and Rachael walked into the bunk. Garet turned to Isaac, Felix, and Jenna, and said, "We have to go back to work." He turned toward Ivan. "See you later." Felix and Jenna turned to Ivan. "Bye" they said in unison. Isaac waved and the four returned to their vessel. Picard just looked at Ivan. "You got some big ones, my friend." The five in the room laughed. Ivan glanced around. "Hope me being out hasn't slowed us down too much." "Not all that much. It's good to see you're moving again. You just lying there was freaking me out" Alex told him. A yell came from Mia. "Sheba! Can I talk to you for a second? You too, Picard! And bring Alex!" Picard turned to Ivan. "Get better soon." He left toward Mia's voice. Sheba looked at the temporarily paraplegic Adept. "Maybe this will help." She gave him a kiss on his cheek, and he blushed again. She left the room. Alex glanced toward Ivan. "I told you she noticed you. She has been sitting by you ever since Friday. Lucky man, you are." He left the room. Ivan smiled. "You have no idea."
Tuesday, April 12th.
Excerpt from the diary of Sheba.
Ivan woke up yesterday. I am so excited! I am so happy he is alright. I got up the courage to give him a kiss, too. He seemed to like it. Tomorrow night I plan to stay up late and just talk with him. Mia's Ply and herbs have helped, and the fact that Ivan is an advanced Adept helped him get better twice as fast, so Mia said the casts can come off tonight! I can't wait until tomorrow!
Wednesday, April 13th.
Ivan was excused from all normal duties because of his ordeal. Anything short of psynergetic movements and abilities and talking caused him some degree of pain, so he tried to do as little movement as possible. He had washed his clothes, along with everyone else's, so that he would at least feel like he wasn't burdening anyone with his lack of work. Felix and Isaac kept making sure that he was still standing and hadn't collapsed under his own weight. They were surprised at how much he did under sheer willpower. Garet had fashioned him a set of crutches with the wood left over from repairing the kitchen wall. Picard had helped Garet complete the repairs to take his mind off of Ivan's condition during the time Isaac was is his comatose state. Garet, with all the gear he took from the cadavers of the fire clan, had made himself a sturdy coat-of-arms that would fetch a large sum of money. He also retrieved all of the ballistae bolts he could find that weren't charred to a crisp. His weapon collection grew to quite an impressive size. Ivan walked over to Garet. "How long do you think it would take you t make a small bench?" "Oh, about three hours. Why?" "Do you have enough wood to make one?" "Yeah. I salvaged all the wood I could get my hands on from the other wreckages. Why?" "I need you to do me a favor and make one as quickly as possible. It needs to seat two people." "No problem. It'll be done in about two and a half hours." "Thanks. I really appreciate it."
"Lunch time!" Alex heard from the kitchen. The crew of all three ships retreated to the Lemurian liner. The group decided it would be more efficient to use one kitchen for all the meals so that Mia could spend time returning Ivan to consciousness, so each ship took turns hosting meals. Now that Ivan was back, they continued in order to make everything more efficient. Felix sat at the head of the table. Jenna sat to his left, and Garet sat next to her. Next was Sheba, and Ivan took his seat by her side. Iodem plopped down to his left. Isaac was at Felix's right, and with him sat Rachael. Next was Alex, then Mia, and finally Picard.
They ate the meal with much noise, as usual. They talked about weather, ocean currents, wind patterns, and other unimportant things. Ivan and Sheba were relatively quiet, as usual, only speaking when they were asked a question or when their opinions had an impact on the others. No one noticed that Ivan was eating with only his left hand, while Sheba was eating only with her right.
After the meal, Sheba walked up to Mia as she washed the dishes. "Do you think you could bunk with Picard and Alex tonight? I want to talk to Ivan and I'm not sure how long it will take." "Sure. I don't see any problem with that. I'll just keep my staff handy in case either of them tries anything." The two girls laughed, and Sheba thanked her as she left the room.
With lunch complete, worked resumed. Garet stood at his post, scouring the horizon for any ships or land. Alex did the same, and Picard, Iodem, and Felix steered the ships so that they could stay on course. The others cleaned up around the decks and cabins. Isaac and Jenna had the cabins squeaky clean, and they had already started to scrub the decks when storm clouds began to roll in. "Put out the tubs and buckets! We are going to have rain!" Garet shouted. Isaac, Jenna, Alex, Mia, Sheba, Ivan, and Rachael put out everything that would be able to carry fresh water. Felix and Isaac traded turns steering their ship, and Picard and Alex did so on theirs. Garet offered to trade turns with Iodem, and Iodem accepted his gracious offer. Mia was shocked with Garet's generous offer. "Well," Garet revealed. "I am really trying to get on Jenna's good side." Ivan wanted to go up to Garet and say, "Tell me about it" but he restrained himself. Sheba had to run over to the kitchen, and when she returned, she was soaked and shivering. Ivan quickly removed his warm Feathered Robe and wrapped it around her. "Is that better?" he asked. She smiled and replied, "Yes. Thank you."
The rain subsided about two hours before nightfall. The group collected the fresh water and dumped it into the giant barrels they stored their drinking, cooking, and cleaning water in. "This should last us at least a week" Iodem said matter-of-factly.
Nightfall was coming, and oil lamps were lit. Ivan sat in bed, and Sheba lay in the cot across from him. They could hear Felix and Garet playing cards. Garet was a poor loser and was always complaining that Felix cheated. Picard and Alex were refining their teleportation techniques, and Mia was concocting another vial of her special remedy for Ivan. Iodem was sound asleep as usual, as was Jenna. Isaac was on Iodem's ship talking to Rachael, like he does quite often now. Ivan stood up and walked over to Sheba. He held her hand and led her out the door. They walked to the front of the ship, where Garet's bench was, sat down, and Ivan said, "Have you ever taken the time to just watch the sunset?" Sheba looked into his eyes. "Not really. I've never really leave the cabin after dinner, so I never had the chance."
Sheba and Ivan sat there for over an hour, just talking and enjoying themselves. They were covered in Ivan's robe, and had fallen asleep on the bench. Isaac, who had to cross over Picard's craft to get back to his own, saw the two and smiled. He thought to himself, "Kids these days." He turned around to look back to where Rachael was standing, and she waved at him. Isaac pointed to where Ivan and Sheba were, and Rachael smiled. Isaac returned to his cabin.
Thursday, April 14th.
Jenna was the first to wake up. She wandered outside and saw Ivan and Sheba cuddled up on the bench. She smiled to herself, and entered the kitchen to begin breakfast. Garet soon awoke and walked out of his cabin. The smell of fish filled his nose. He looked around, and saw the couple on the seat he made. "Now that's good craftsmanship," he thought. He followed the scent of food and entered the dining hall. He offered to help with the meal, and he quickly began go cut up the various vegetation they had stored with his short sword. "Garet! What are you doing?!" "I'm chopping the carrots. What does it look like?" Jenna slapped his arm lightly. "Ever heard of a knife?" "Kitchen knives are too small. I need a real blade." "Loser." "Hey. Don't start with me." They laughed. "You see Ivan and Sheba? They're so cute together," Jenna said. "Yeah. How long have they been like that? You know, all mushy and stuff?" "Grow up. They are more mature than you are." "I am grown up. I am just wondering how long they've been 'together'. I'm just curious." "Well, I don't know. I know she finally realized how much he like her after that fight." "Ah. That's all you needed to say." Isaac walked into the room. "Something smells good." "He can speak! It's a sign from the heavens, brothers and sisters!" Garet started to say like an evangelist. Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm. "Shut up." Rachael entered and gave Isaac a smile. He smiled back. "Guess who's still there." Jenna looked at her. "Still?" Isaac looked at her. "Yeah. We saw them there last night." Jenna looked confused. "Last night? We? Oh, yeah. Never mind." Garet looked puzzled, as usual. Soon Ivan entered with Sheba. "Hey everyone. How's it going?" Garet glanced over. "Just fine. You?" "Same." "Good to hear." He was obviously trying not to laugh. Isaac punched Garet in the arm again. "What was that for?!" "Because I wanted to." Felix, obviously still tired, stumbled into the room. "Good morning." He almost tripped over a chair, and Isaac sat him down at the table. Picard, Mia, and Alex strolled into the room. "Ah, look who's awake" Mia said, looking toward Sheba and Ivan. "Hope you didn't stay up too late." Breakfast was almost ready by the time Iodem woke up. "I'm too old to be up this early." Everyone chuckled. They sat down and began to eat. Ivan had Mia's special remedy instead of water. It tasted horrible, but he choked it down. He seemed to feel a little better almost instantly. He had a glass of water to help get the taste of the medicine out of his mouth. They finished breakfast and cleaned up.
After breakfast Ivan offered to try and steer the Lemurian craft. Picard agreed to teach Ivan how to sail, and soon they were on their way. Ivan noticed a small, glowing rock by the steering wheel. "What's that?" he asked. "Psynergetic Amplifier. All Adept ships have them. It allows the ship to be moved with greater ease at the cost of less Psynergy. Makes driving a lot easier. But it needs to be planted in a sturdy place, because if it isn't, it may start to float. And we don't want that to fly away, do we?" "No. I guess not."
Alex saw a ship coming from straight ahead. Iodem saw it and hollered toward the others, "Don't worry. It has white sails. That means it's a merchant ship." Sighs of relief came from several people. They slowed down, and Iodem waved down the merchants. "Have you anything to trade?" he asked. The captain walked up. "Yes, actually. We found these odd crystals that we are willing to trade for some armour. He pulled out a handful of Psy Crystals. Mia recognized them immediately. "Hold on." She turned around. "Garet! Go and get some of the armour of yours!" Garet disappeared into the floating dormitory and returned with a fine piece of plate mail and a short sword. "You wouldn't happen to have any herbs, and some various food items, would you?" Mia asked. "Today is your lucky day, miss." He turned and nodded to another man, and he quickly disappeared below decks. He soon returned with a basket of food items and herbs. "Will you trade that food, herbs, and crystals for this armour and sword?" Mia inquired. "Certainly. We have been looking for some quality armour for some time now. Thank you." They exchanged items. He began to return to his ship until Iodem asked, "How far away is land?" The captain turned to him and said, "The last port we were at is straight ahead for you. It'll be about a week until you get there." Another round of sighs was heard. "Thank you" Iodem said. "It was out pleasure." He returned to his ship's helm and all four ships continued on their way. Mia stocked the supplies, and Garet waved goodbye to his war trophies.
The rest of the day's voyage continued without any interruptions, other than meals. Bunking returned to how it was before the big sea battle. Night fell, and once again the lamps were lit. Alex looked over towards Ivan. "Hey. So what exactly did you and Sheba do last night? I mean, you two wanted to be alone, right?" He nudged Picard, and they both started to chant, "Go Ivan, go Ivan." The three boys laughed, and said, "Nah. It isn't like that at all. Sheba's not like that." "Oh, I see Ivan is the little gentleman, isn't he?" More laughter.
Meanwhile, Garet and Felix had their usual card game, but this time Isaac and Jenna joined them. "Do you have any kings?" "Go fish." "YOU LIE! I KNOW YOU HAVE A KING!" Garet had his nightly temper tantrum until Felix revealed his hand. No kings were to be seen. "You hid it when my back was turned!" I win!" Isaac proceeded to punch him in the arm, and Isaac and Felix dragged him out of the room kicking and screaming. The two tied him up with a length of rope to the large pole in the middle of the ship. "You can't do this to me! I am an important part of this team!" Felix turned his head. "You might want to get some sleep while you can." He laughed and the two hostage takers returned to the cabin. "What did you do with Garet?" Jenna asked. "Well, he's a bit tied up in things at the moment, so he won't be with us for the rest of the game." Felix laughed again. "You guys are so mean to Garet. Where did you stash him this time?" "I don't know what you're talking about" Felix said with a sly grin. Jenna left the room. "Garet! Where are you? Hey Garet!" A voice coming from her right responded "Over here! By the mast! S.O.S.!" She laughed to herself as she walked over to him. "I'll untie you only if you promise to stop accusing people of cheating." "But it keeps the game interesting." She started to turn away, but Garet said, "Okay, Okay. You win. I'll stop accusing people of cheating." She smiled. "Good! Now let's see that knot. Whoa. The really didn't want you to get out this time. This is a really hard knot!" "I have a knife under my mattress is my bunk, if you need it." "Hold on." She left the deck for a minute, and returned with his knife. "This should do it." "Hey. Watch where you're cutting. That's my ribcage right there!" "Stop whining." The ropes soon fell and Garet turned to her. "Thanks. I'll put the knife back." She handed over the knife. "Now, where are those two?" "Don't even think about it." Before she could finish her sentence Garet was off toward the cabins. She ran after him. He entered the room and gave his two assailants an evil stare. They laughed hysterically. He went to his bed and returned the blade. "You'll regret that." They laughed harder. Jenna rushed into the room. "Oh, good. He hasn't gone berserk."
Friday, April 15th.
Isaac and Felix awoke unable to move. During the night Garet, with some assistance from Jenna, had tied them to their beds. "This isn't funny!" Felix shouted. Laughs were heard from the kitchen. "Yes, it is!" Garet returned. "Untie me right now! I'm warning you!" "Are you now?" Isaac has managed to loosen the restraints enough to get one arm free. He grabbed his sword and slit the rope. After he freed himself, he cut Felix's rope. They barged in the kitchen, and Garet and Jenna turned around. "I knew I should have moved the weapons. Oh well. Too late now." He began to laugh. Felix had an angry look on his face. "Never do that again." "What goes around comes around." Isaac sat down at his usual spot. Alex entered the room. "What was all that noise? It's like a stampede just ran through here!" "Nothing important." Garet laughed harder.
After the morning meal, work again recommenced. Ivan, who had given up on trying to learn to sail, had began to wash the dirty clothes. Sheba, having finished all her daily chores early, helped Mia with hers. When they were done, they left to go talk with Rachael. "So, what's the deal with you and Isaac?" Mia posed. "What do you mean?" she asked, trying to sound surprised. "Come on. We all know about him staying up late and going over to your boat. Spill it." "Nothing is going on between us." "Oh, right." The three girls laughed. "Fine. He and I, well, we are kind of, well, I don't know how to explain it." "It's like Sheba and Ivan, right?" Sheba glanced over. "How did I get into this?" "I needed an example, and you're the best ones I know." "Well, it is a little more than Sheba and Ivan." "A little more? Like, how much more? You didn't..." "Of course not." "Then why the attempt at secrecy?" "You know Isaac. Always the shy one." "True." Isaac was walking past. He saw the trio of females and tried to act like he didn't notice them. "Hey, Isaac!" Mia called. "Come here real quick. Just for a sec." Isaac reluctantly hopped over from one ship to the other, nearly taking a swim and landing with a face full of wood. Rachael rushed over to him and helped him regain his balance. "You alright?" "I'm fine." "No you're not. Your chin's bleeding." He took out a small handkerchief from his pocket and wiped his chin. "Now it isn't. Why'd you call me over?" "Well," Mia began, "we all know that you two have been staying up late together. Why didn't you tell us?" "Well, you never asked, did you? And anyway, I was going to. I just never got the chance. How did you all know?" Sheba and Mia looked at him with that 'are you kidding me?' glance. "It was sort of obvious, especially when you had to cross our ship to get back to yours." "Oh, yeah, right. Who else knows?" "Well, Picard, Alex, Ivan, and Jenna for sure. I'm not sure about Felix or Iodem." "Whoa. All of them? At least not Garet. Who knows how long it would take for him to shut up about us." A yell came from Felix's ship. "Hey, Isaac! Stop flirting and get your tail over here. I need that knife from my room." "See my point?"
After dinner on Iodem's ship, Garet, Felix, Isaac, and Jenna were once again playing cards. Garet looked up. "Isaac. Do you have any threes?" "Go fish." "WHA-" He didn't get to finish his sentence. Jenna's foot smashed into his, and he did his best not to yell out in pain. He let out a small whimper. His trembling had picked up a card. Felix looked at Garet in surprise. 'Hmm. No whining. What did Jenna do to him? Threaten to beat him up?' he thought to himself. The game continued until it was once again Garet's turn. "Felix. Do you have any sixes?" "Go fish." Garet didn't make a sound. He just picked up another card, his hand still trembling. Felix was in pure shock. 'What the heck is going on?' he wondered. The rest of the game went on without a problem, with Garet as silent as a mouse unless it was his turn or he was asked for a card. He even gave the cards out without any accusations.
After the game, Jenna walked up to Garet. "Sorry about your foot. How is it right now?" Garet peeked over to her. "Okay, I guess. And I want it to stay that way. Please don't hurt me." Jenna laughed. "I'm not. At least, not tonight. Now, get to bed. Your parents would kill me if they knew how late I'm letting you stay up." They both laughed, and Garet stood up to go to his cabin. "Oh, Garet. Sorry about your foot. But we had a deal, and you were going to break it." "Don't worry about it. It might heal sometime soon. Hopefully."
Saturday, April 16th.
For once, Garet was the first awake. He left the lodging and stared out across the ocean. Jenna, awakened by the din that was Garet, soon joined him. "I've been on this stupid boat too long. I need to see some dry land." "Don't we all. But we should only be adrift for another four days. It isn't that long." "It's too long for me." "Don't worry about it." She gave him a hug, and left for the kitchen. Garet stayed a minute and then turned around to see Isaac. "Oh, hey Isaac." "Hey Garet. Why are you up so early?" "I just woke up." "Oh." Just then Ivan exited his cabin and saw them. He walked over. "Hey guys." "Hey Ivan. How's everything?" "Peachy. Why?" "Don't know. Just wondering." The group saw Mia wandering around the deck with her eyes closed. Garet looked at Ivan with a 'what the heck is going on' look. Ivan just said casually, "Sometimes Mia sleepwalks. Nothing too serious, but being cramped up on this ship has caused her mind to want more movement. I'll just go and put her back to bed." He ran over to her and led her to her cot, and laid her down. Next to Mia's bunk, Sheba stirred. "Sleepwalking again?" "Yup. You should lock the door at night to keep her from falling overboard." "Okay. Hey, what time is it?" "I don't exactly know. The sun came up about thirty minutes ago though." "Really? I'm ready to get up now then." "Alright. Breakfast is cooking right now. Should I wake the others?" "Sure. I go with you. But we can let Mia rest for a few more minutes, right?" "Of course. You don't want a hostile Mia. It can be hazardous to your health." They left for the other sleeping compartment to wake Alex and Picard.
Meanwhile, Garet looked at Isaac. "What's with you staying up late? I never know where you go, but it kind of freaks me out. "I'm just going for..." He paused to think. "A swim. I need to start moving around, and it's a good workout." "Hmm. Good idea. But you have all the time to do that during the day. Why not swim then?" Isaac froze. Then an idea came to his mind. "Well, I'm not exactly what you would call 'tan' so I am trying not to scare off anyone." "Good point. Well, just do what I do. Go to the top of the crow's nest and tan there. No one sees you so no one has a problem with it." Caught without an escape, he said the only thing he could. "Okay. I'll take over the lookout post today, if that's alright with you." "Sure. Go ahead." Ivan was walking toward Isaac and Garet. Along with him strode Sheba, Alex and Picard. The six began talking again, and Rachael and Iodem joined them. Felix stuck his head out of the doorway and shouted, "Breakfast is ready." The group began to move toward the kitchen, until Sheba remembered about Mia. "Someone needs to go get her." Picard looked up. "I will." He rushed over, and the others entered the cafeteria. Picard soon returned with Mia and sat her down in her usual seat. Ivan and Garet looked at each other, then at Picard. Garet glanced down and just nodded his head 'no'. Ivan heard Garet thinking, 'Nah. Couldn't be who Felix was talking about with a 'secret relationship.' He seemed to project it through the room because he was thinking so hard. Sheba seemed to notice it too, because she peeked at him. Ivan had to restrain himself to keep from cracking up. He and Sheba knew that Felix had learned about Isaac and Rachael, but luckily, Garet didn't.
After the morning's feast of ham and eggs, Isaac climbed up to Garet's post to retain the illusion that he swam at night. He even braved being seen by others and took his shirt off to tan. The high lookout post was tall enough so that he wouldn't be seen by anyone on the deck, but he noticed Alex laughing hysterically when he saw Isaac. Isaac retorted with an evil stare, and ignored the loud snickering until it stopped.
Garet, now able to walk around more, left to the back of the ship to work out. His routine consisted of push-ups, curl-ups, and running around and jumping from ship to ship. After that, he went into his cabin and returned in only a pair of cotton shorts. He went to the front of the ship and began to swim, but he wasn't nearly as fast as the small fleet. In less that a minute he was struggling to get to the ladder five feet in front of him. "Hey, guys! Do you think you could toss a rope for me?" Jenna peered over the railing. "What are you doing down there, and why aren't you up at your post? And where the heck did Isaac go?" "I'll be happy to explain as soon as you toss me a rope." Jenna entered the storage area and returned a long, good rope. After tying one end to the railing, she grabbed the other end and tossed it into the water. "Catch!" The rope landed a foot from him and he grabbed it. After pulling himself up, he flopped over the railing, breathing hard and obviously tired. "Thanks. I owe you one." "Why were you down there, and where is Isaac?" Garet pointed to where Isaac was, and then said, "It was getting hot, so I went for a swim. Now I know why Isaac swims at night. Nothing to keep up to." "Isaac doesn't sw-" She caught herself in mid sentence. "Oh, yeah. He does, doesn't he?" She left the panting Garet there, and left to her room. Garet returned to his and put his clothes back on.
Ivan exited the kitchen on the Lemurian ship. "We don't have enough water for lunch today. I'm going to need to summon a storm! Everyone put out the buckets and barrels!" Everyone sprang into action, taking everything inside below decks and bringing bucket after bucket to collect water.
After preparations were made, Ivan walked to the bow of the craft. He raised his staff and shouted loudly, "Winds of Jupiter, Waters of Mercury, I summon you forth! Fall at my command!" Rain clouds almost instantaneously appeared, the temperature dropped, and a hard rain began to fall. Ivan turned around. "Well, that was fun."
Isaac commanded Iodem's ship for him. Last storm Iodem came down with a nasty cold, and so Isaac steered through the entire thing. Garet offered to control Felix's craft, and Felix agreed. 'At least I don't have to get wet this time,' he thought.
Alex and Picard traded places guiding the Lemurian vessel, while Ivan cooked and retrieved the water he needed. The storm didn't last long, and they were able to restock their supply of water. The excess water was tossed overboard, and work resumed. Ivan finished cooking the meal, and once again eating commenced.
Tuesday, April 19th.
Everyone was anxious. It had been six days since they met up with the merchant ship. All were getting sick of the long sea voyage, save Picard. Being an islander, he was always attracted to the ocean.
Lunch was already over, and Isaac saw Picard with his eyes closed steering the ship. "It helps if you can see where you are going." Picard opened his eyes. I can, even with my eyes closed. All Adept ships from Lemuria have a special ability. If you channel Psynergy pulses into the Psynergetic Amplifier with your eyes closed, you can get sort of a sonar effect. The merchant was right. The closest port of land is dead ahead, about another day or so away." "Whoa. You can do that with this thing? That's the trick you were talking about before we first set sail." "Yup. It's hard, though, to keep the ship moving and use the sonar simultaneously. And it can only receive from on source at a time. It's a real mental workout."
Wednesday, April 20th.
Nobody was able to get any sleep last night. Even Garet, who is so deep a sleeper you could kick his ribs and he wouldn't stir, had trouble resting. Everyone knew how hostile Mia got when she didn't have her sleep, so everyone prayed she at least had some, even if it was just an hour's worth. Every little bit helped. She stepped out into the light. Her hair was messy, and she didn't look happy. Garet braved certain death and walked up to her. "Hey, Mia. We should hit land today." She turned her head and grabbed him by the shirt. "Well, isn't that special?" Her other hand flew up and also grabbed his shirt. She took a few steps toward the side and threw Garet overboard. "Damn. There wasn't any land there." She turned her head toward Felix and said, "What are you looking at!?" He instantly ran toward his bunk and stayed there until Isaac called him and Jenna for breakfast. Garet was already at the table, cowering in fear, still wet because he was too scared to come out of the water until Isaac said it was safe.
Mia seemed much happier after she had breakfast, and Garet already changed into dry clothes. He washed all his dirty laundry, which wasn't much because everyone had only brought two sets of clothes. Oddly, both sets were identical, so no one knew which set was which. After cleaning his, he offered to clean everyone else's too. Isaac, who took Garet's post as lookout man, thought he saw something in the distance. "Hey, Alex! You see that thing all the way over there?" he shouted. Everyone looked up toward where Isaac was pointing. "Yeah. I see it! You thinking what I'm thinking?" "I hope so. Everyone, pack up. We see land!" Everyone free at the moment went to put away all they had, and Mia stashed all the food and herbs they had in her sack. Garet rushed to make sure all his weapons were in their racks, and everyone got their armour and weapons out.
After another hour, they finally pulled into port. The man at the docks spoke the same language as everyone else, and all sighed in relief. "How long you all planning to store these ships here for? I charge ten gold pieces a day." Felix covered Garet's mouth, knowing that he would try to barter and end up getting them an even higher rate. "We don't know yet. When we return, we'll pay you in full. Here's one hundred gold to start." The man happily accepted the money, then wrote something down on his book he was holding.
The next order of business was to buy fresh food and more herbs. They found the item shop, and bought several elixirs as well. Mia had insisted Garet sell his weapons, but he wanted to keep them. "They are part of my collection." She looked at him and said, "Do you want to add your broken teeth to your collection?" They earned over two thousand gold coins for the items, and Garet kept his smile as it was.
"Ah," Felix said as he unpacked his sleeping bag. "No more up and down, up and down. Nice, sturdy land." Night had already fallen, and everyone was tired. Garet, Isaac, Alex, Ivan, and Picard took turns on lookout. They were used to being attacked by small creatures trying to take their food. Garet took first watch, because he never was a morning person. Isaac couldn't sleep at all. He walked over closer to the campfire. "Not tired?" "Not yet. I'm still wide awake." "Well, I'm bored out of my mind." He glimpsed over toward Jenna. "You ever think a guy like her and a girl like me could ever work out together?" Isaac looked at him puzzled. "Err, maybe. Only if you really like trading places." Garet eventually caught his mistake. "You know what I meant." "Still, maybe. I don't know. Just ask her." "Right. Just ask her. What do you know about girls?" A low sound came from a few feet away from the clearing they were in. "Which way did that come from?" "I think it was behind where Felix is." Isaac rushed over to his sleeping bag and grabbed the sword that was next to it. "Couldn't be too big, could it?" The same sound was heard again. "It sounds like a dog, doesn't it Isaac?" "Yup. Maybe it's a Wolf. I always wanted to see what they look like." Right then, a large dog-like animal was thrown from the woods. It had deep scratches on its back and hind legs. A large cat-like beast hopped out from the trees behind it. Isaac sprang into action. "Isaac! What are you doing?!" His shout woke up everyone but Iodem. They looked around and saw the two creatures fighting and Isaac tempting fate by getting closer. The sleepers sprang to their feet with their weapons in hand. Rachael acquired a short sword from Garet before they left the ships, and even some unequipped chain mail. They made a circle around the two fighting monsters and were ready to attack anything that got too close. The ferocious feline jumped at the canine. Isaac ducked and rolled by the dog and, with his sword, impaled the airborne cat. He then turned toward Mia. "You think we can fix this puppy up?" "I guess so, but why? It's wild, and will probably attack us." "Nah. Just give it an herb to heal and we can leave before it is fully recovered." "I guess, but you're taking care of it. And it's just for tonight. Now, what are we going to do with that cat?" Garet thought for a second. "Mmm, beefy." "Eeew. That's nasty. You want to eat it?" Sheba said, obviously disgusted. "Well, we can't let good meat go to waste. And we can smoke it so that it will last longer. We can make kitten jerky." Garet walked over and pulled out his knife from his belt as the others went back to sleep. Isaac carried the injured canine to the fire and bandaged it with herbs. Garet proceeded to skin the cat neatly and remove all the meat he could. The claws were saved so that he could add them to his new weapons collection, and the skin he cleaned and also smoked.
Thursday, April 21st.
The next morning, the dog was still asleep, the food was finished smoking, and the pelt was completely clean. Garet rolled the skin and claws up with the rest of his belongings, and stored the new meat with the rest of the food. They left, allowing the injured pooch to wake up without human interference.
Isaac was obviously distracted at lunch. The new addition to the food reserves was surprisingly delicious, but Isaac still kept to himself a bit more than usual. Rachael sat down next to him. "Still thinking about that dog thing?" "Yup. I think it was a wolf. I've never seen one before though." "I don't know. I've never seen one either." "Hmm. I just wonder if I'll ever see another one. They're supposed to be very afraid of humans." "Well, you never know. Anyway, at least you have seen it. Some people never even see one."
The group finished lunch and continued their journey. Isaac seemed a little happier knowing that he at least saw it. Suddenly, a loud roar shot out from the forest to the group's left. A Manticore hopped out with its tail poised to strike. "The venom in that tail can paralyze you in less than a minute. Watch out." Mia stated. Abruptly another creature exposed itself behind the first creature. It was in the shadows, so no one was able to identify it without questionable accuracy. The unknown beast moved with inhuman swiftness. It was upon the Manticore in less than a second, and tore its tail off. A shriek ripped through the air, emanating from the hurting Manticore. It spun around to face the attacker, and Picard jumped toward the tailless animal. His scimitar punctured through the tough hide with ease. The sword pierced the Manticore's liver, and Picard forced the weapon through the ribs of his 'steed'. Another cry of pain was the final sound heard for several minutes after that.
The unknown creature walked up to Garet. It snatched the chunk of cat jerky out of his hand. Garet jumped back. "It's that thing again!" After the small meal, the wolf went up to Isaac and licked his hand. "I think you found a new pet!" Jenna said cheerfully. "Is that good or bad?" was the response. Garet looked at it. "Well, if it is going to steal my food, then bad." The group continued walking, still puzzled by how it found them. "What are you going to name it, Isaac?" Sheba inquired. "I don't know. Hmm. What do you think I should call it?" Garet, never taking his eyes off of it, said, "How about Temporary?" Jenna laughed. "Suck it up, Garet. You're just mad because it ate your jerky. Pig." "I'll just call it Fang until I can think of another name for it." "How original." Garet was obviously hostile toward their new four-legged companion.
That night, they set up camp as usual. Isaac's new pet marked its territory with the help of a few trees, and familiarized itself with the other members of the party. Garet tried to stay away from it, although it did end up learning Garet's scent.
After supper, everyone was getting ready for sleep. Picard was taking the first watch, so he stayed up by the fire. Fang was given another herb. When Rachael laid down next to Isaac for bed, Fang started to growl by Isaac's feet. "Shhh." Isaac whispered loudly toward it. The creature quieted down and put its head back between its paws.
Friday, April 22nd.
Isaac woke up later than normal. He had take his shift, and stayed up a little longer looking at his new friend. "Hey, Mia. When you were in Imil, did you ever see any wolves?" "Yeah. They looked a bit like that, but not as big. And this one looks different." "I know. I think it might be part wolf, part cerberus, part fenrir. They have been known to breed like that." "Maybe. But then it would be much more ferocious, wouldn't it?" "Well, what do you call ripping a Manticore's tail off?" "True, true." Isaac left to pack the rest of the camp's equipment. "Hey, Garet. Come here." Garet jogged over. "Yeah, what is it?" "Tonight, don't chop so much firewood. We are in the woods, so it isn't difficult to find it. And it will lighten our load a bit." "Fine. But we need to make sure that we have some dry wood in case it rains." "Agreed. Now, we may need to go hunting every so often, so keep your knife sharp." "Alright. Do I get to trash stuff?" "Yes, you get to trash stuff." "Sweet!"
Saturday, April 23rd.
"Happy Birthday, Isaac!" Isaac jumped from his sleeping bag. "Huh? Oh, yeah." "Happy Birthday! You're finally eighteen!" "Yeah. I am. Thanks you guys." Rachael hugged him. "Happy Birthday." Isaac smiled. "Well, when do we depart?" "As soon as breakfast is over."
After breakfast, Garet approached Isaac, carrying a small object. "Hey, Isaac. I was thinking, you always get yourself into trouble, and woods hasn't been your good-luck-charm, so I made this." He revealed a small, handheld weapon with a wooden handle. On the end was one of the claws of the cat he had slain to protect Fang. "Thanks, Garet. I'm sure it will be really useful."
Sunday, April 24th.
Excerpt from the Journal of Picard.
Isaac's new 'pet' has become a really good asset. It can carry some of our luggage, but we don't pack it with much. When we cross paths with an animal recently there, it automatically knows. At night, it is aware of all movements and sounds. And, it is really loyal to us. We are lucky we found it when we did. The Manticore we ran into could have given one of us a nasty sting.
Tuesday, April 26th.
The nightfall came sooner than expected. The group had begun the ascent of a large mountain. A small cart path that winded up made the trek easier. They were able to find a good-sized cave that seemed to be abandoned. Garet and Alex had scoured the entire inside of the cave, and found nothing to worry them. The fire was lit, and a small torch was made with a long stick and a piece of old torn cloth. Picard kept pacing back and forth with his scimitar in one hand and the torch in the other. "Wha-?" Mia sat up. "Oh. Hey Mia. What's wrong?" "Nothing. Bad dream." "Oh. Well, you should get some sleep. It will probably get a lot steeper as we get higher up the mountain." "Yeah. I guess so. Hey, can I ask you something." "Okay. What's your query?" "How do you get by with so little sleep? I mean, I just have to have sleep or I become, um, unhappy." "Well, I'm just used to it by now." "Oh." She got up and walked over to him. "Why were you sent to light the lighthouses? Felix never told us why he needed to." "Well, once the lighthouse of a certain element has been lit, it releases that element upon the earth. Leaving a lighthouse unlit while the others are will mess up the balance of the elements. Without balance, a certain element could dominate the others." "I see. So, in order to keep the balance, you have to light all of the lighthouses. That seems logical." "That's what the elders teach on Lemuria." "Oh. Well, I'm going back to sleep." "Okay. It's time for Garet's watch, so I am too." He walked over to Garet and shook him. "Hey, wake up." Garet stirred. "Huh? Aww, man. And I was just about to finish off Saturos all by myself." "Sorry, but back in reality, you need to go on watch." He left Garet and curled into his sleeping bag.
Friday, April 29th.
They group had already started the descent down the other side of the mountain. The cool mountain seemed to invigorate everyone, and the downhill slope sped up the journey. A loud screech came from above. The crowd looked up in time to see a wild Gryphon waging war on several small Carrion Birds. The Carrion Birds seemed to e winning, beating the Gryphon to the ground. The group rushed to the landing site several hundred meters behind them.
Once there, they saw a flock of Carrion Vultures getting ready to feast on the Gryphon. Ivan rushed over to the unconscious bird and examined it. "Hey, Mia! Rachael! Come here real quick!" The two approached cautiously. "What is it?" "You think this Gryphon can be helped?" "Maybe. But its wing is definitely broken. It won't be able to fly for a while. And a grounded Gryphon is pretty much a dead Gryphon." "Fine. But we can help it a bit, right?" "It's possible. Here. Put this on its cuts. We can bandage the wing, but not much more can be done." "Okay." They put did what they could, and they tried to carry it back to the others. Garet piped up. "What are we, the vet?" Fang began to growl, until Isaac went over and helped to carry the creature. "Great. Another mouth to feed. Now we have two wild animals that eat nothing but meat following us." "Stop complaining, Garet." Jenna retorted. The group didn't go very much farther that day. The excess 'luggage' kept them from moving fast. They set up camp as usual, and ate. After dinner, they slept.
Saturday, April 30th.
The team woke up as usual, except for the fact that they were one more unit heavy. The Gryphon had awakened, but completely unable to fly. It cawed and cawed as it flapped its wings trying to become airborne. Ivan and Sheba was able to calm it down by mind reading it and finding out the problem. They approached it slowly, and it quieted down. Ivan turned toward Sheba. "You think we should make it think like we are friends and it has known us for a while?" "Sure. And we will need to make Fang like it too." "Agreed. I'll work on this, while you go work on Fang." The two looked at the animals and the creatures calmed down greatly. They didn't even notice each other anymore. Gryphon followed Ivan and Sheba around much more. The Gryphon was male, and an outcast from another flock. While Isaac and friends were Fang's pack, they were also the bird's new flock. Garet looked obviously annoyed. "Now we are the traveling circus. Why do we have to keep these things?" "Because it is the right thing to do." Ivan replied. "Right. Now we have to save everything we see?" "Not exactly. Just do what we can." "Ah. Of course."