Chapter 3 - Icy Confirmation
The waters that had been host to the ferocious battle between the Boreas and the Odin only a few days prior were mostly clear of all debris. By now, it had all been blown across the surface and taken along for its aimless ride in whatever direction the ocean's currents would take it.
Following the trail of the debris was a small vessel that was flying no colors whatsoever. A two masted ship with minimal armament, the vessel was built for speed rather than combat. It's commander, Captain Jorgensen was somewhat of a rouge in the waters of the North Sea. Considered a pirate by some, his vessel, the Mustela, was notoriously difficult to catch, making it a favored hire when covert action needed to be taken as quickly as possible.
At the moment, Jorgensen was on a job. Standing at the helm of his ship, following the trail of debris through the waters, he looked out over the bow of the Mustela at the Island which the trail had led them to. Spying the debris littering the shore he realized that they had gone as far as they could by sea. It was time to continue the search on foot.
Passing the wheel off to one of his crew, he strode up to address his men.
"Lower the longboat!" He yelled. "Prepare to go ashore!"
As he gave the orders, the men on the deck began to scurry around. Some men trimming the sails to keep the Mustela in place, while others got the longboat ready for departure.
Captain Jorgensen walked over to the small boat which was now sitting in the water beside his ship, ready to be boarded. A few of his most trusted men climbed down the side of the Mustela and hopped into the longboat, steadying it for the Captain's arrival.
"Hold the ship here until we return." He commanded the remaining crew who were on the deck. "If we do not come back within two hours... it means we never will. Should that happen, leave immediately."
Without questioning his orders, the crew nodded in affirmation as their captain climbed down the ladder and into the longboat. Taking his seat, the other men in the boat began to row the captain and themselves over to the shore of the island ahead of them.
On the short ride over to the land, Jorgensen thought over his current situation. There were a number of things that didn't fully make sense to him. First, the man who had hired him to do this job did not specify why he wanted this to be done. All he told him was to track down a certain vessel, and then attempt to locate a particular person of interest. Who this person was, Jorgensen did not know, but he was given a very detailed description of what they look like, how they dressed, and some hints at other oddities that might make the person stand out from others.
The vagueness of the intel was somewhat troubling, but the most concerning tip given to him before he started this job was the warning.
Don't let your guard down, the man had told him, she's extremely dangerous.
Jorgensen was not someone to be taken lightly, and he knew this. His reputation, whether he liked it or not, was a fearsome one, so for someone to tell him to be careful was not something he was used to. He realized jobs like this often left the middle-man in the dark about certain details, which is why he did not question his 'employer' any further, but this particular job had a strange feel to it, and secretly, it worried him greatly. The payout was the only thing that would make it worth the risk.
Coming up gently on the sandy shores of the island, the longboat ground to a halt as the front of the keel dug into the sand. Two of the men jumped out of the boat and pulled it up farther onto the shore, allowing Jorgensen and the other men to step out directly onto the land.
The Captain looked around at his surroundings as he stood in the wet sand near the surf. In the distance, the sand turned to long grass where the beach ended. There were a scattering of trees and the odd outcropping of rock visible along the terrain, but otherwise, this island was unremarkable.
Closer to him, bits of debris were covering the shore, some which had become buried by the wave actions, some which were large enough to still be protruding a great deal from the beach. He walked over to one nearby fragment to examine it. It was a large piece of wood planking, dark navy blue in colour, it had jagged edges which appeared to be the result of it being violently split from the hull of the vessel it once was part of.
"Seems like whatever ship this was took quite a beating." Said one of the crewmen who was standing on the beach near Jorgensen.
"Yes." The captain replied. "I don't think I've ever seen this level of destruction before."
He lifted his gaze up from the one piece of debris and scanned the shoreline again. "Even when a ship's powder keg goes up, it rarely does this much damage."
"Do you think this is from the vessel we were hired to follow, or from one of its victims?" Another man asked. He was holding up another piece of wooden debris which had a small bit of bent iron plating attached to it. The buoyancy of the wood was obviously enough to prevent this particular piece of metal from sinking to the bottom as it drifted to the island.
"I don't know." Said the captain as he started walking inland. "But since it could be, we need to search the area. There could be survivors."
The five men walked along the beach for less than fifteen minutes before coming across something that fell under the category of unusual. Another large piece of wooden debris stuck out of the sand in front of them, but this one had pieces of ripped purple and dark green fabric tangled up in its splintered edges. In addition to that, were the relatively fresh footprints leading from beside the debris, out across the wet sand and farther inland. The must have been no more than a day old.
"I see someone's here." Jorgensen commented as he followed the path of the footprints with his eyes. The other four men all pulled out their respected weapons as the captain said this. They all looked around as if they were preparing to repel a surprise attack from the unknown survivor of this shipwreck.
Keeping substantially more calm than his men, Jorgensen leaned in close to examine the fabric stuck to the debris. Feeling it with his hands, it was definitely an expensive piece of cloth. Thick and luxurious with fancy embroidering, it most certainly belonged to a wealthy person, or someone in a position of authority. On top of that, the colors and patterns present on them were similar to what they had been told their target often wore.
"This might be her..." Jorgensen whispered to himself, not loud enough for anyone else to hear him. He was almost certain he had found what he was looking for. This fabric most likely belonged to the person he had been hired to track down, but he was still not completely certain. He wouldn't be paid for his work if he want back with anything less than one-hundred percent confidence.
Fortunately, he didn't have to wait long for all of the confirmation he needed.
"Captain!" One of his men called out. "I think you'd better come take a look at this."
The man was standing about thirty feet from the debris with the torn fabric. He was closer to the water, but still not close enough for the current level of the tide to flood the area where he was stood.
As Jorgensen walked closer to his crewman, he noticed the ground under his feet become harder and harder. The closer he got, the less his boots sunk into the wet sand, until eventually he was no longer making any impressions in the ground as he walked. He paused his forward movement as realization started to click in.
"The sand here, Captain." The man continued. "It's solid." He bent down to touch the ground, confirming what he felt under his feet. "And it's cold."
Jorgensen was certain now. He remembered what he had been told by the man who hired him and his mind flashed back to the conversation.
"...One more thing." The man told him. "This woman has an unusual connection to... the cold."
"The cold?" Jorgenson questioned back. "What does that mean?"
"Well, let's just say that if you happen to come across any... snow or ice, in a place where you would otherwise not expect it... then she is undoubtedly nearby."
Snapping back to the present, the Captain closed the remaining distance to what appeared to be the center of the patch of frozen sand.
"Shovels! Now!" He yelled. "I want to know what's under here."
Two of the men quickly dropped their swords and pulled out the shovels that were attached to harnesses on their backs. They both began to dig up the sand, which was incredibly difficult to do considering how solid it had become due to the low temperature. Thankfully, the source of the strange occurrence was only a few inches below the surface. As one of the shovels hit something that was not sand, the men looked up at each other and began to quickly dig out the object.
Less than a minute later, the sand around a small box had been completely cleared away, leaving it sitting at the bottom of a small depression in the beach. The box was covered in small bits of sandy ice and frost. As the Captain leaned in closer to examine the object, he could feel the drastic change in the air temperature and began to see his own breath by the time he was within a few feet of it.
It was difficult to make out at first, but upon closer examination, the Captain could see a symbol engraved on the lid of the box. Carved elegantly into the wood was a shield shaped crest, stained purple on the left, and green on the right. In the middle was a yellow crocus, three petals atop a thin stem with a leaf on each side. He recognized the symbol immediately.
"Shovel." He commanded with an outstretched hand as he stood back up.
One of the men who had been digging handed his shovel to the captain who gripped it tightly and held the tip of the spade over top of the lock on the front of the box. With a swift and forceful thrust, he knocked the metal lock off of the box which had been weakened by the cold. Handing the shovel back to one of the men, he lowered himself to a crouching position again.
He was a bit nervous about touching the box, but he had to see what was inside. Grabbing the side of the lid, he was startled by just how cold it was. Being a man who grew up sailing the waters of the North Sea, he was no stranger to cold temperatures, but this was colder than anything he had ever touched in his life. He recoiled his hands as the sting of the touch caused his fingertips to go numb. Standing up again he pulled out his sword and held it towards the box. With the skill and steadiness of an expert, he nimbly slid the tip of his blade in-between the crack of the lid and flipped the box open.
None of them really had any idea what to expect when the box was opened, but the stunned look on everyone's faces confirmed that they all were not expecting this. Whatever this was.
Inside the box was an irregularly shaped stone that looked almost like a crystal. It was glowing with an icy blue light that stood out even in the bright sunlight. It was difficult to tell, but small waves of frosty particles seemed to be slowly seeping from the stone, drifting into the air and coating the inside of the box with a layer of ice.
Captain Jorgensen stared at the stone with curiosity. He withdrew his sword form the proximity of the box as he could feel the handle of his weapon start to become cool to the touch due to the cold traveling up the length of the blade. The air around them seemed to drop in temperature by a few degrees as the box was opened, giving them all a physical chill to accompany the mental one provided by the sight of the ice stone.
"Well..." Jorgensen began as he continued to stare at the stone. "...we've certainly found who we're looking for..." He gestured to the site of the footprints in the sand, but kept his gaze fixed on the stone. "...and even more." Bringing his sword forward again, he closed the lid of the box. "And now it's time we leave."
He gestured to two of the men who were near him as he put his sword back in its sheath. "Pick up that box. Use something to protect your hands. It's very cold."
The men ripped off strips of fabric from their ratty clothing and wrapped their hands in them, creating makeshift gloves to protect themselves from the sub-freezing temperatures being emitted by the stone within the box. Pulling it out of the ground, the five men made their way back across the beach towards where their longboat was resting on the shoreline.
As they walked, Captain Jorgensen kept a wary eye on all angles, making sure the mysterious survivor on the island did not make an appearance. He was paid to find her, not fight her. When they got back in the boat, they quickly shoved off and began to row back to their ship.
A short time later and they were back onboard the Mustela. Jorgensen made his way up to resume his command at the ship's wheel while the other men carefully carried the strange box down to the cargo hold. The other crew on the deck seemed quite curious as to what could be in the container, but the Captain interrupted their thoughts as he addressed everyone on deck.
"Set course to make our rendezvous." He yelled. "It's time to cash in boys!"
A resounding cheer erupted from all of the men. They all knew the payout was going to be massive, larger than what they usually managed to acquire on a typical job, or even through months worth of pirating. The crew hastily began to raise the sails to make their way back where they came from.
As the Captain turned the ship's wheel hard over to port so that he could bring the ship about, one of his more trusted men came up to him.
"Are you certain this will guarantee us payment?" He asked.
Jorgensen thought for a moment before he replied. He was told to track down the ship, and he had done that. He was told to locate the targeted woman, and he had done that. He may not have seen her with his own eyes, but she was definitely on that island... somewhere.
"Yes, I am." He replied. "This should satisfy that Duke."
A/N: Aha! There's the plot! Well, some hints at it anyway...
This chapter might not directly feature any of our familiar characters, but it was important to set up elements for later in the story. Can anyone guess who the man that hired Jorgensen is? I'm sure it's probably obvious...
As always, reviews are appreciated!