Al-Hawa proved to be a very fast horse, the same as Al-A Shab, the second that they had been turned loose by their handlers they soared off, as if they had wings on their feet. They ran for ten minutes with Ayut Hazem five lengths behind them before the other stallion was reined in by his evil handler for a breather and then they lost him completely afterwards. Both the mare and the stallion ran almost for two hours before their riders drew them up, making them go from a fast gallop to a walk. Atlas checked both horses legs and Al-A Shab's body for any marks, bruises or swelling, both horses were in good shape, Al-A Shab had taken a few scrapes from Aayut Hazem's hooves but that was all. Atlas remounted his stallion and took over leading, he asked one question and that was where they were going. Angel said Alexandria and he headed in that direction, he moved them so that they were riding alongside the Nile, where it was cooler and where there was game. By the time the sun had started to fall they had reached an area that Atlas called Al Fayyum Lake, he quickly removed the saddle cloth and wrapped blanket from his stallion then released him, Al-A Shab went off to the lake and started pawing at the water. Before Angel could removed the tack from Al-Hawa Atlas walked up, he took over the keep on the mare without saying a thing, instead of releasing the mare like he had his stallion he tied the reins around a tree. He then took off for a while, leaving Angel and the horses alone.
"Say something on Tazzy and he goes to pieces." Angel thought.
Al-Hawa dropped to her side and went to sleep after an hour and Angel leaned up against her, after a few hours she got concerned for Atlas, he hadn't returned. Seeing as she was hungry she went off to do some hunting. The first animal she found, a Least Weasel, she spooked and had no chance to capture. The second animal, a Rhim Gazelle, was too big for her so she didn't bother chasing him. The third animal was an injured Dorcas Gazelle, a pretty orange furred animal with a single black stripe on each cheek and curved horns. She grabbed the animal's leg when it came close to her and wrestled it to the ground, the Gazelle gave her three kicks then went silent and still after she stabbed it in the neck with a sharpened rock. She dragged her kill back to camp slowly, when she got back she saw that Atlas had returned. He had some weapons with him and a kill.
"Yeh jes no kin weet kin yeh?" Atlas snapped when he saw her with the Gazelle.
"You took off for near five hours, what did you expect for me to do, sit and twiddle my thumbs or knit a sweater?" Angel placed her hands on her hips.
"I's seeprized yeh no culled dat eelien to cohm git yeh." Atlas said, he went back to his kill. He cut the horns off then he started in on the stomach. "Or yeh pa."
"Why in the world would I call for my old man to come get me?" Angel rolled her eyes.
"I no no, boot yeh an' dat eelien seemin' to like each uder a lot." Atlas said.
Angel remained silent as Atlas went on and on about TazirVile. She cut the stomach of her kill open with the sharpened rock she had then took out the intestines. She made sure to keep the liver for later, it was the most important part to her kill. After she had taken the liver out and had placed it over the fire that Atlas had made she started skinning her kill. Atlas was just saying that he had a feeling that she had drifted from him when he looked back over his shoulder at her. He had no idea that Angel could skin an animal as well as she was. She had the skin off and was running the sharpened rock over the inside to smooth it out. When she was done with that she tied it up near the fire to dry, she then went and started cutting meat for supper. By the time Atlas had a chunk of meat cut off of his kill, had cooked it and was starting in, Angel had a pile of meat by her side. When she had everything she wanted from the Gazelle she started cooking, she stored the meat and organs she had also harvested from the animal that she wasn't going to eat that night in the saddle cloth. As she saw it, she preferred riding fully bareback to having something between her and a horse.
"Yeh kin do mahn too." Atlas said after she had propped the stick that held a chunk of meat up on a some rocks and was heading for the cooked liver.
"Uh uh, everyone tends to their own out here pal." Angel said.
"Yeh a wohman." Atlas said, he gave a sly smile. " Meh wohman."
"Regardless, you can tend to your own kill." Angel said. "Payback for taking off for a few hours and leaving me alone."
"I no go off fah no reeesun, Angel." Atlas said, he then pointed at the weapons that were near the fire. "Yeh see dem? I go'd off to git dem."
"Lazer rifle, several knives, a bow and a case of arrows." Angel wiped her chin with the back of her hand. "Yeah, I guess they can be useful. For you, at least."
"Yeh no toochin' dem so yes, dey fah me." Atlas said in a mockish way, he even produced a mocking smile.
Angel finished the liver then went over to the chunk of meat she had left cooking in the fire. It was very well cooked and tasted very good, she had a mind to cook another piece but her stomach was full so she decided against it. Atlas refused to touch his kill so she finished the skinning then she started harvesting the meat and organs. Atlas wrapped what she cut off his kill in his saddle cloth then leaned back on a log. Al-A Shab whinnied then trotted over to him, the stallion stayed by his side all night long and was his only companion for the night as Angel stayed over with the mare. She slept lightly that night, mostly keeping an eye out for both her father and listening out for Atlas, when she got up the next morning she had thin, light blue bags under her eyes. She rebuilt the fire, cooked some meat, ate it then went to Al-Hawa who was waiting nearby for the days travel to begin. Atlas had gotten up when she had, he had gotten her to cook him some meat then he had gotten up and started tying his weapons and the saddle clothes of meat onto the horses.
"Maybe you should strap them up some." Angel said when Atlas made a face after mounting Al-A Shab.
"Yeh hoosh!" Atlas snapped half-heartily. Angel swung up on Al-Hawa with no problem, although she did dangle on the mares side for a short few seconds which gave Atlas a bird's eye view of her rear end which he liked seeing quite a bit.
They traveled for a few hours, staying at a simple walk, when they arrived in a place called Sheikh Zayed City in Giza, Egypt Atlas grabbed the reins of Angel's horse and held them firmly in his hand. The reason for this was clear, men were looking. He kept Angel close, hissed at men who came too close and then when a man grabbed Angel's leg he kicked his horse into a run. Angel was laughing by the time they started up a stretch of road called Waslet Dahshur, in all it took another hour before they reached a building that was called the Technical Training Center, a medium-height white building with a jagged edge roof, a tower to one side, several trailers and a parking lot next to the tower, there was a building complex going around in an incomplete square on the left side of the road where cars and tractor trucks were parked, it had no sign on it so Angel had no idea what the building was. Atlas didn't stop when he saw the building, he got Al-A Shab going faster. They went through El-Tawheed Village, again Atlas had issues keeping men at bay.
"Yeh keep yeh h-... Yey! Keep yeh-... Git yeh hands off meh gul!" Atlas rattled on and on, Angel was stifling giggles, a majority of the men that were looking at her were doing just that. Looking, there had been two or three that had touched her leg but that was it. She was about to tell Atlas to can it when a man leaped at her. He grabbed her around the waist and was in the process of pulling her off of her horse when Atlas dismounted. He confronted the man and a physical altercation erupted. The man, a dark-haired, darkly tanned man who looked middle age that had a long face, backed off after three minutes, he held his hands up then turned around. He ran off shouting in Arabic. Atlas remounted his horse then rode over, placing himself in front of Angel, he had no marks on his body as he hadn't let the man get a chance to strike at him.
"You have a poncho on you or..." Angel started to ask.
"La, no!" Atlas exclaimed a bit too loudly and a bit too angrily, Angel pulled over to the left then looked at him in shock. "I no got's poncho, yeh fahn, Angel. We's almos' dare."
"When we get to Alexandria we need to find Kasr Raes Al Tin, it's a harbor that we can get a boat from." Angel said, when a man grabbed her leg she didn't bother shouting, she swung her fist. It collided with the man's, who had long, black hair and a round face with blue eyes, nose. The man ran off shouting in Arabic. "We go to Karpathos Island then we get another boat to..."
"Why not we jus' use deh bowt all deh whey?" Atlas asked, he kicked Al-A Shab into a dead run to get out of El-Tawheed Village faster.
"I am sure that whoever lends us a boat will want it back." Angel replied. "And fast."
"No if I buys it." Atlas said.
By the time that they reached Kasr Raes Al Tin, a small harbor in Alexandria, it was well past dark. It took a lot of persuading from Angel to get them through the closed gate, she tried to pay the man to let them through and when that didn't work she tried sweet talking him, when that didn't work she leaned over, the man got a good view of her breasts and that was what got them through the gate. The man, a young fellow with blond hair and brown eyes, let them through then closed the gate quickly behind them, Atlas turned around and glared at him from atop Al-A Shab then turned back around and followed Angel. There was hardly anyone in the harbor, most everyone had gone home for the evening. Atlas was about to suggest that they bed down for the night and wait until morning when Angel saw someone coming down the dock with a flashlight. She dismounted, grabbed her wallet out from the wrapped up blanket that was tied around Al-Hawa's middle then walked over, to her surprise the man spoke clear English.
"Yes, may I help you?" the man asked when Angel came up to him.
"My friend and I need a boat." Angel said, she took a hundred-dollar bill out from her wallet. "Do you know where I can get one? We're headed across the Mediterranean Sea to Greece."
"You're in luck, I sell boats." the man said. "I can sell you one that'll take you, your friend and your two horses across the water."
"How much?" Angel asked.
"Fifteen hundred."
Angel asked the man to take her and her friend to see the boat and he did. He led her and Atlas, who was walking behind her, he had the reins of both Al-Hawa and Al-A Shab in his hands and was leading them behind him, to a large-sized boat that was made out of a large tree trunk, the sides came up about three feet and there was a sharp bow in the front. The boat had a white sail and two sets of oars on it. Attached to the boat by a series of ropes was something she had never seen before. It looked like a long and deep box but it wasn't, it was another boat that was built to hold animals such as goats, sheep and horses. Angel looked the two vessels over then looked over at Atlas, he was examining the boat pretty seriously, when he caught her gaze on him he nodded his head. Angel payed the man his money then she stepped to the side. Atlas had a bit of an issue getting Al-Hawa on the animal vessel but after a few pulls, a push to the side then a short rest, the mare leaped in with no problem. Al-A Shab jumped into the vessel right after the mare, Atlas tied him up and placed up a bar between the mare and his stallion to prevent them from getting at each other. He then jumped onto the riding vessel and started throwing the ropes to the side, releasing the boat from the dock. Angel jumped in just as he pushed the boat with one of the oars away from the dock, he started rowing in silence.
Homsi, Losal, Zshon and Eldass rode along, the elder of them having control of the reins of the two horses that pulled the wagon while the younger Goblins asked the locals questions. They had gone from Cairo the day after Angel and Atlas had shoved off for Greece to a location called Tanta, they had their orders from their master to ask everyone that they met up with if they had seen his wife, they had her picture with them along with the photographs of her babies. So far, Homsi was doing well with the regions dialect. When he had enrolled in Staffer's Academy with his three older brother's and younger sister he had decided that he was going to go over the usual enrollment which was a hundred years, he had gone through three hundred years of learning and most of that, besides the usual teachings of how you acted towards your employer, how to acted towards your employer's family, how you kept your employer's house all neat and tidy and, of course the most important lessons of all, when not to adhere to your employer's words or orders, had been in learning languages. His master knew and spoke fluently over a thousand languages, he was very intelligent, Homsi knew a hundred languages and spoke fluently ninety of them. Eldass looked back when he reached the village of El-Shaarawy, an hour ago his son, Zshon, had had a small heat stroke. Zshon was lying on his back, a wet cloth draped over his face. He had held down some food and water, now he was simply sleeping. Eldass turned back around just in time to pull the horses that were connected to the wagon to the side hard. His master's nephew pulled his horse to a stop right beside the wagon, turned him around then rode him up next to Eldass.
"What are you doing here, Goblin?" Master Vile snapped.
"On orders of our master, while he checks up near Alexandria, we are to check the areas nearby." Eldass replied.
"Check the oases." Master Vile barked out an order. "That's where she would be."
"Beg pardon, sir, but we do not go by your orders." Losal said. "We go by Master Tazir's, your uncles."
"Do as I say, Goblin!" Master Vile shook his fist. "Check the oases."
"If we get that order from our master we will." Eldass said, he flicked the reins and the two horses, both lanky and sleek bay mares, one with a sock and blaze while the other just had a snip on her nose, rode forward. Master Vile stood his horse in place then swung his hand, a yellow energy ball struck Eldass in the back. It, and his shock over being attacked by his master's nephew, near made him fall off of the drivers seat, he yanked the reins back then turned around. He had never been struck by anyone in his life save for his parents for when he had misbehaved as a child, for his master's nephew to of sent an attack at him he felt insulted. It was against the code of the Goblin Law for a member of the employer's family to strike at a Goblin that was not in his or her service. Master Vile nudged his horse, a coal-black stallion that had a good muscle mass on him, and rode him forward.
"You can't do that!" Losal exclaimed, he stood up when Master Vile stopped his horse beside the wagon. "It's against code of the Goblin Law for you to strike a Goblin not in your service."
"You can be severely punished for attacking Eldass." Homsi said.
"Bring it, for when your "master" is thrown off of Moas you shall follow suit." Master Vile said. "I don't care whose service you are in, who employs or busts your grape-sized balls, I'm in charge here."
"Master Tazir is the one in charge!" Eldass exclaimed. "He is the dominant and our employer, he is the one we are loyal to. We are not nor will ever be loyal to the likes of you."
"The likes of I who happen to have control of the planet that you live your puny lives on." Master Vile snapped. "Don't you forget that, now. I conquered, own and rule the entire M-51 Galaxy and that includes your precious planet Moas."
Eldass, the second Master Vile rode off, leaped off of the wagon. Before he could throw his hand to return the energy ball that he had been attacked with by his master's nephew he found himself grabbed around the waist. He turned around and saw that his son had grabbed him, Homsi and Losal shook their heads at Master Vile then sat down. Neither of the four Goblins much like Master Vile, they had thought that there was no being out there that they could hate more than their master's father but Master Vile had proved them wrong. Of the four, Eldass had been employed by TazirVile the longest. Soon after TazirVile had settled on Moas, had built his mansion home and had moved in fully he had started looking for employees. Eldass had been in the first batch of picked employees and thus, he had had the opportunity to see Master Vile as a youngster. He couldn't believe how much the man had changed. The man had started out so respectful, he'd always listen and obey although, as was natural for a youngster, he did overstep his boundaries from time to time and had to be taken up by his parents. That respectful, obedient boy had grown into a monster, in Eldass' eyes that was. Master Vile had gone from being such a nice, respectful and obedient boy into an overly confident, stubborn, stern and strict and disrespectful man. He, as did Homsi, Losal and his son, Zshon, could see why mistress Angel didn't want anything to do with him and they could see why their mistress didn't want him near her babies. Eldass climbed back into the drivers seat, flicked the reins once then sent the horses off at a slow trot. None of the Goblins said a word for a short while, Zshon checked his father's back where his master's nephew's energy attack had struck him, it was burned slightly below the shoulders but not badly. His father had been struck by a low-powered energy blast, nothing more. Zshon contemplated contacting his master but before he could pick up his communicator he saw a man walking towards the wagon. The man's skin was darkly tanned and had dark hair, despite his darkly tanned skin the man had a very noticeable bruise on his cheek and a black eye. Zshon pointed at the man and his father pulled the horses up next to him.
"My good sir," Homsi said in Arabic. "we are looking for a woman. Red hair, green eyes."
"I think I've seen enough redheads for the time being." the man replied, he waved them off.
"Sir, it's a matter of extreme importance." Homsi said, when the man started walking away he shouted after him. "The woman is of big importance to us, it is of great importance that she is found." when the man continued to walk away he leaped off of the wagon and ran towards him. The man turned when the Goblin pushed him harshly from behind.
"Persistent fucker, yes I seen a redhead lately. Wouldn't have this," the man pointed at the bruise on his cheek then he pointed at his black eye. "hadn't her companion of gone off on me."
"Where was this?" Homsi asked. "Who was her companion?"
"El-Tawheed Village, she had a mean gray-haired man with her now leave me be."
Eldass turned the wagon around and headed for the village, Homsi asked the villagers his questions and got several answers. A woman wearing scantily clad attire had come through the day before on a golden buckskin horse with a gray-haired man who, the villagers claimed, was hostile. Before Homsi could ask a woman that was wearing a black robe and veil if she had seen and heard of where the red-haired woman was going he was approached by a man that had long, black hair and a round face with blue eyes, his nose had a bandage on it. The man approached him shyly, nervously, then said that he had overheard that the woman, of which he admitted to grabbing, and her companion were headed towards Kasr Raes Al Tin. Homsi thanked the man then sent him on his way, Zshon was already getting in contact with TazirVile.
"Master Tazir," Zshon said, Eldass gave him a warning look them mouthed for him to not say a word about their master's nephew casting an energy ball at him. "we just received news that Mistress Angel went to a place called Kasr Raes Al Tin."
"That don't help me none, Zshon." TazirVile's voice came through the communicator. "Kasr Raes Al Tin where, what is..."
"It's a harbor in Alexandria, Egypt, sir." Eldass had grabbed the communicator from his son, he was looking at a map. "We're heading there now."
"Catch you there, have you seen my nephew anywhere?"
Nephew? What nephew, Eldass felt fury swell within him again over his master's nephew attacking him and then trying to set down his law. Zshon looked at him, they locked eyes for a few seconds then Eldass looked away, Homsi and Losal, who had been off asking in plain English, Homsi was getting tired and that effected his switching from English to the regions dialect, if anyone had seen mistress Angel and had gotten no where, jumped into the wagon. Homsi took a swig of water from his bottle then placed it to the side, Losal wiped his brow with his kerchief. Eldass folded the map then placed it behind him before answering his master's question.
"Have not seen him." he said.
"Dammit all!"
"Sir, I am sure he can take care of himself." Eldass said. "He is probably back in camp by now."
"Probably and are are two different things," his master replied. "keep a look out. Don't need to tell you that my brother was asking where he was last night."
"I am fully aware, sir." Eldass said, he then placed his communicator back in its place on his belt.
As Eldass road towards the harbor called Kasr Raes Al Tin he thought of the night before, his master's brother had called asking how things were in the camp. His master had told him just about what was needed to be told which was a lot. His nephew was causing trouble, he was making a lot of fuss and bedlam for the camp for not only his master but his master's stepfather and mother. No one could walk around in the camp without having Master Vile come up to them to cause trouble and that included the other Goblin's that his master had brought along with him. When his master's brother had found out that his son was causing trouble, still, amongst him and Tazir he had asked to talk to him. That hadn't come off easy for his master, he had gone quiet for a short minute then had just let it out. Master Vile had taken off on his horse during the day and hadn't returned, he had tried to get him to return back to camp only to have a squirmish happen then, afterwards, all communication attempts couldn't reach him. What was worse, Master Vile didn't have a tracker on him so he couldn't be tracked and his whereabouts couldn't be known. Kuruk had gone quiet a few seconds then had said that his son was fine, he wasn't worried over him being lost in the desert. He then had said that as soon as he was heard of for his son to call him up, that they needed to do a serious talk. Eldass was fine with his master's brother, sure his temper got in the way sometimes and sure, he got too confident but he was a respectful guy. He had never given him an order or had attacked him, although Eldass remembered well that Kuruk had insulted him the year before by calling him an idiot and a fool he disregarded it. Sometimes people, especially the temperamental ones, forgot their words. Eldass and his companions rode along in silence all the way from El-Tawheed Village to Kasr Raes Al Tin, they all found that their master was leaning up against a building, having already gotten their ten to twenty minutes before.
"About time," TazirVile said. "I've already asked around, Angel purchased a vessel with a transport behind it that's the typical animal hold last night. She had a man with her, I was told."
"Anything you wish for us to do, Master Tazir?" Eldass asked politely.
"I'm headed in the direction that they were headed," TazirVile said, he had a brightness in his eyes that made all of the Goblins feel excited. "need all of you. I've already brought over the RunaMoa, already fueled up and ready to go."
Zshon was the only one of the four Goblins that had not experienced the pleasure of riding in a boat with his master, he had been told that it was a joy ride by his father and that his master was not only a very experienced driver but also a very careful driver. Zshon had been told that his master hardly made any orders when he took a Goblin or two with him on his boating or fishing trips. Just watch the water, keep an eye on the sky and don't talk much, that was all. Most of the time, he had been told, the boating and fishing trips were pleasant, they had been given the title of Breather Trips by his co-workers and each and every Goblin butler had gone out on one of the trips, everyone but him, that was. Homsi, Losal and Eldass jumped into RunaMoa boat, a sleek, well polished and well equipped boat with a fine engine which, when their master felt froggy, could go past a hundred miles an hour. The outside of the boat, although steel, was painted to look like wood, the inside had six seats and a lower level, which their master kept his fishing gear and life vests in. TazirVile had boarded Tritor, his lanky and finely formed copper-colored stallion that had Bend Or spots on his flanks and withers, he stood dozing in the back. Eldass checked on the horse, being sure that he was tied securely, and found that he was a-okay. He then sat down for the ride, TazirVile inserted the key into the hole, twisted it then they heard the awesome power of the eight cycle engine underneath the hood. TazirVile turned the ship away from the dock carefully then headed out to sea, the last thing that Eldass saw, when he looked back at the mainland, was Master Vile riding in on his coal-black stallion. He almost broke out in roaring laughter, here was his master, heading out to sea with them, his employees, and there was his master's nephew back on the dock. Master Vile pulled his horse to a stop, looked out at them then dismounted.
"Think you're about to bust a seam, Attie." Angel said, Atlas had been rowing the boat all night while she had slept, she felt a bit guilty and had tried to give him a rest by taking over but he would hear none of it.
"Atlas!" Atlas exclaimed, he went on rowing. "Angel, yeh no meh name. It taint Attie or King Tut or Rameses. It be Atlas."
"Look more like drenched man to me." Angel replied. "Come on, let me take over. Take a rest."
"Dis man's wohk, Angel."
It was nothing but crystal blue waters all around them, there was not a speck of land that they could see and they saw no see-faring vessels either. It was like the water travel for the day had been cancelled just to make way for them, there was a gentle breeze blowing which was catching Atlas' loincloth and hair and the sky ahead was light gray, they both could smell rain. The water was a bit choppy, it was aiding Atlas a little in moving the boat. Al-A Shab and Al-Hawa had stayed quiet throughout the night, when Angel had woken up that morning she had crawled over to them and had given them a light helping of hay and a bowl of fresh water. She had cooked a little meat on a fire that she had made up on a steel slab then had practically hand-fed Atlas, who had refused to stop rowing even to eat. She had also had to give him water. Seeing as there was nothing to do but sit around and watch Atlas row himself to exhaustion, Angel jumped off of the boat.
"Angel!" Atlas yelled. "Git yeh bee-hind up heh dis seecund!"
"Make me Bust A Nut." Angel said, she swam off a ways.
"Git up heh, Angel!" Atlas yelled. "I's no jokin', yeh git up heh or I turns arund an' goes back."
"Go back then, just leave Al-Hawas with me." Angel said, she dived, went low then shot up to the surface.
"Dey shahks in dare, Angel!" Atlas yelled.
"I've faced against sharks before, ain't not shark going to take a bite from me." Angel said, she dived again deeply then turned up towards the surface. She shot up to the surface twirling. "Besides, I've had worse things bite me. My father and Adjo, for example."
"GIT UP HEH ROUGHT NOW!"
And with that, Angel got up on the boat, she glared at Atlas then lay down on her stomach. She trailed her hand in the water for a full minute then she got a surprise. A Saddled seabream, a fish with a fuse-shaped silver body with a black spot near the tail, latched onto her finger, with a yell she ripped her hand up, out of the water. Atlas laughed for all of a second then quieted up, the fish, when it unlatched itself from Angel's finger, flew off and smacked him on the chest. It was Angel's turn then to laugh. Atlas glared at her, released one of the oars to grab the fish then threw it back over to her. Angel cut the fish up and served it for lunch, again she found herself feeding Atlas and again, she found herself giving him water.
"Yeh cook good." Atlas said.
"Thanks." Angel said. "Just you don't expect for me to become a tester."
"Testor?" Atlas looked at her oddly. "What dat?"
"A food tester, someone that is forced to eat or drink someone else's meal and drink for poison." Angel replied.
"I no do dat, I love an' reeespect yeh too mooch to do dat." Atlas said. "Why yeh see dis, Angel. Why yeh seeyin' yeh not wantin' to be a testor?"
"Carry over from Adjo, sorry." Angel rolled over and faced Atlas. "He has a harem of thirty, half of which he uses as his taste testers."
"An' dat is why I no like Adjo. He no trate guls rought." Atlas said.
Atlas rowed until night then Angel forced him to take a break, she took over rowing the boat. It was a little easier than she thought, the breeze had increased and it was aiding her greatly but what made things a bit tedious for her was that it started raining badly three hours into her rowing. It rained for a long while before letting up, when it did Angel was freezing cold. Despite her cold, she continued rowing. She found herself thinking that if she had her powers back she'd of had them by a beach in Greece by now, all she'd have to do was fling her hands back and a jet of water would shoot out behind them, forcing them forward at an even greater speed or, even better, she could have teleported to Greece. It was a fine thought, she had wondered when she had been a child what it would be like a normal, non-powered human being. She had had her powers for almost all of her life and so they had become a part of her, without her powers she felt as if she wasn't fully there. By the time the sun was heading up in the sky her eyelids had started to drop down. It took another hour of rowing before she lost the fight to stay awake. She fell asleep just as the boat hit the beach of Lasithi, on the island of Crete which was part of Greece.
"Angel," Atlas gently shook Angel to wake her up, she was leaned over with the two oars held in her hands. "week up."
The rain in the night had made her feel somewhat sick so she allowed Atlas to row and steer the boat the rest of the way to Greece. She lay on her side, curled up into a tight ball hacking and sneezing for a short while before sleep found her again. When she woke up some hours later she saw that they were again surrounded by water, this time the water was very choppy and was giving Atlas a great help. Atlas said he had gotten into some trouble while pushing the boat off of the island's beachy area, he had had to chase Al-A Shab and Al-Hawa as the two horses had jumped out of their sea-faring vessel and were running around the beach. After catching to two frolicking horses he had had to push the boat from the sand back into the water, the boat and its tag-along animal vessel had scraped against the rocks around the island before he had gotten out to sea heading towards mainland Greece. Angel fell asleep again and stayed asleep for a good, long time. When she woke up it was dark out, the stars were small pinpoints of light in the sky and the moon was a thumbnail, there were no clouds in sight.
"You and I need a good rest after this." Angel said, she still felt like shit.
"Jus' as long as yoor wit me when I gits meh rest I be fahn." Atlas said. "Yeh no look good, yeh look sick."
"I feel like crap." Angel said, she then crawled over to Atlas and lay by him. For some reason, his closeness made her feel better.
TazirVile had no idea where his wife and the man that she was with were going but, for some odd reason, he felt that going north west was a good idea. During the night it had rained, he had gotten Losal and Zshon to put the tarp up around the open part of the boat and to put Tritor's blanket on him, Eldass and Homsi had been sleeping at that time but when the rain had started coming down a bit harder they had woken up with a start. Both Goblins had assisted in putting the tarp up and TazirVile had found himself pegging the tarp down above him, Tritor had given Eldass some trouble at just that time. The stallion was pent up, he wanted to run and stretch his legs and he wanted to eat more than the small portion of hay he was being given. TazirVile had transported his horses oversea before, he had led the two year olds that he wasn't going to keep, either because they had formed not as he had hoped, were not as fast as he wanted them to be or because their temperaments were not what he wanted them to be, onto his skiff from the dock behind his out building then had gone across Celiobon Sea to Saigon's Auction House where he'd lead his two-year old off of his skiff to the building, sign his name to the book then take his place in the seats. He made sure that whoever bought his two-year olds were not buying them for ill purposes, such as horse meat buyers. He couldn't see how a being could eat a horse, the meat wasn't very good, had no nutritional value and to him, it was really a waste of a fine horse. He had tried horse meat once, his father had served it one day when he had been seven hundred and fifty-nine years old. He had taken one bite then had slid his plate forward, his refusal to eat his meal had gotten him a good whipping that night and his sister, who had been two hundred and fifty-nine years at the time, had also gotten punished for doing the same, although not in the extreme fashion as he had been. His father whipped her the normal way, he had always either gotten beaten with his father's fists or with a stick, belt or worse, a horse whip. The whipping that night had come from his father's belt, when he had gone to bed that night he had had to put his night shirt on backwards, his back had hurt him too much for him to put it on the normal way.
It had rained all night, Eldass and Homsi had had to scoop water from the bottom of the boat several times due to the tarp getting ripped in two places, and then had stopped around morning. The tarp had been taken down so that the sun could make the water in the boat evaporate, TazirVile had removed his black shirt that had silver buttons that went diagonal, going from his right shoulder to the left side of his waist soon after, it had gotten hot much too soon and black, his favorite color besides burgundy, was making him get overheated. He drove his boat shirtless, the scars that crisscrossed all over his back and the scars on his arms shown brightly a light blue in the suns rays. Zshon had never seen the scars before, when they were exposed he gawked at them. His father elbowed him to not stare. Zshon had been told that his master had been treated badly by his father when he had been growing up and then again soon after his mistresses first son, Bile, had been born, he hadn't really believed it, he believed it now. The proof of the treatment could be seen clearly in front of him. Zshon was thinking how strong his master was, for him to be going on with his life, still conquering planets and galaxies and to of found a woman to love not to mention having just sired his first son. Zshon had sealed his loyalty three years prior to TazirVile, after two and a half years of TazirVile employeeing him he had sealed his loyalty in his own blood, as was custom by Goblin law. He was unmarried, one of only two of his father's offspring to not be married or have any children, he was in no rush. There had been plenty of nice, pretty Goblinette's at Staffer's Academy that had his eye but he had been too preoccupied in his studies to do much more than talk casual. His father walked up beside his master, he looked out to sea then pointed something out. They had just gone by the island of Crete.
"My eyes playing tricks on me or is that a glint of gold?" Eldass asked.
"Your eyes are as sharp as mine, Eldass." TazirVile said. "I've got this baby on slow speed to conserve fuel, whatever's in front of us we'll intercept in a few hours."
"The locals said that Mistress Angel was wearing a gold coined outfit." Eldass said, TazirVile glanced at him quickly before looking forward.
"Anything else on the outfit?" TazirVile asked.
"As far as Homsi relayed, bra piece and an asymmetrical skirt, very short and both having gold coins hanging from them. The skirt also had light brown tassels on it."
"I was told she was with a gray-haired man, possibly the one that I fought against some months ago." TazirVile said, he had a hint of anger in his voice. "Man was wearing a short loincloth, I was told."
"He attacked several in a village who grabbed at Mistress Angel." Eldass said.
"He'll be next," TazirVile said, he opened the throttle a little more, adding a bit more speed to his vessel. "I have no idea what's going on, but I want my wife and son's."
"Son's?" Homsi repeated his master's just spoken word.
"Bile and Lhaklar, who else would I be calling my son?" TazirVile looked back at Homsi. "Surprised at you, Homsi, you should know that by now."
"Of course, my master."
Homsi felt a blush happen high up on his cheeks, he had overheard his master use the word step-son several times in reference to Bile when he had been talking to his brother and grandfather before they had been sent the invites. Homsi sighed, it seemed so long ago that his master's first son had been born, his master was trying so hard to find his wife and son's and so far, no one was helping out. His grandfather had helped out quite a lot, Shaam had treated his master as he should have been treated all along, with respect. With Shaam now on Gamma-Vile, tending to his injured son and his daughter-in-law that was near six months along in her pregnancy and with Kuruk and his wife also on Gamma-Vile healing up from their injures, it was just his master, his master's nephew, his master's mother and half-siblings and Cheshire in the camp, all of Duru's daughter's and their families had gone to Gamma-Vile to lend support to their injured father. Now, it was just his master and his master's stepfather looking for Mistress Angel, Master Vile wasn't lending a hand in anything, he was just making trouble. Homsi looked over his shoulder, a gasp escaped his lips as he saw a very shiny, very black, Shearwater fishing boat coming at them. There was a roof above the wheel and controls that was black, three antenaes stood up on it, and near the steer was a coal-black stallion. Before Homsi could say anything, his master's nephew drew up alongside.
"Nice boat, Uncle." Master Vile said in an almost mocking way.
"Vile," TazirVile looked over at his nephew sharply. "you shoud be back in camp, your father wants to speak with you."
"And he will, after I get my daughter that is." Master Vile said, he then laughed dryly. "I see you have the pipsqueaks with you," TazirVile pulled his boat up slightly closer to his nephew's, there was a slim bit of space between the two boats. "that is good. You will need the support after I reach my daughter before you."
"Enough of your challenging, Vile." TazirVile snapped. "This is not the time for challenging or for you to be exposing your jealous side."
"No challenge in it, I'm better than you." Master Vile replied calmly. "Even the scrubs behind you know it."
"Master Tazir beats you ten to one!" Homsi barked.
"Homsi, Losal, Zshon, Eldass... pipe down back there." TazirVile said. "My nephew is only talking through his teeth."
"We'll see who is talking through his skin after today," Master Vile said, he started going past them then yelled back. "by the way, enjoy the pink slip you was sent in the mail the day before last, Uncle. Start kissing your life in my galaxy goodbye."
