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Watching Garet laying into the fallen tree was almost as exhausting as doing it, Ivan thought. He couldn't imagine having such passion for hacking things. It went against his moral fibre. He'd always tried to sort things out reasonably with people, using logic. Even subtle manipulation, he admitted to himself. It was only since meeting Isaac and Garet that he'd had to fight for his very life.
Ivan wondered how he would have handled a swordfight had he not joined with his friends. Quite possibly he would have been cleaved in two before he'd even thought about attacking. Either that, or he wouldn't have been in that situation in the first place. Fighting hadn't had a part in his life as a servant. Of course, Lord Hammet's guards had gotten into scuffles with brigands on occasion, but Ivan had only witnessed these. He smiled absently to himself. How shocked would those guards have been to see him now, hacking limbs off wild wolves?
He scuffed his shoes around in the sand. Strange as Ivan's circumstances were, he felt no remorse at being on this quest. Few people could ever do something as righteous as this. He felt a deep sense of pride to know he was helping, however insignificant that help may be. Garet often made a point of reminding Ivan that without him, they would surely be stuck outside many a door.
Turning away from the Mars adepts' steady chopping, Ivan called out to Mia, up on the deck of the ship. "Should we do a stocktake of our supplies? Weapons, food, spare clothes, the like?"
Mia halted her check of the anchor ropes, and called back down to him that that would be a good idea. Beside her, Isaac nodded in agreement.
Pulling his green cloak back over his shoulders, Ivan started back up the ramp. Passing Isaac at the top, he couldn't help thinking that the Venus adept was still a bit of an enigma to him. In the time that he'd known Isaac, he'd found him to be quite resourceful and intelligent. But Isaac never said much at all. Ivan had been a bit mystified by his behaviour at first, over time coming to accept his silence as part of his personality. But Garet had often said that Isaac used to speak a whole lot more, when they were younger.
Crossing to the hold, Ivan unhooked the ladder. It banged to the dark floor below. He stepped onto the first rung, still lost in thought. He hadn't quite been able to find a valid reason for Isaac's silence. Some people he knew were quiet because they were agonisingly shy. Others were quiet because they hated townspeople, and thought they were full of useless banter. But Isaac . . .
Ivan jumped the last few rungs and landed with a thump on the ground. Picking up a lantern from the side, he went down the left passage, towards the hold. Passing the small kitchen, two bedrooms, and a pantry, he turned right at the intersection. It still amazed Ivan slightly just how big this Lemurian ship was. In theory, it could hold a veritable army of people.
Three more turns through the maze of passages, and Ivan reached the hold. It was a massive open space, easily taking up a third of the vessel's size. When they had first come aboard the ship, they had found a few scattered goods in the hold. Blankets, ceramic food jars, a couple of gauntlets and an old, blunt spear were the only reminders that the ship had had previous occupants. They'd taken the blankets and jars gratefully, but the spear and gauntlets weren't of much use to them. Their own equipment was in far better condition. But Ivan had noticed, on one of his frequent trips into the hold, that someone had been sharpening the spear.
He hadn't considered asking whom. It was their own business what his companions did to pass the time.
Crossing the worn wooden planks to the small pile of their own supplies, Ivan whipped out a sheaf of parchment and a quill. Time for work.
~*-*~
"Okay," said Ivan, as he slipped into his chair at the scrubbed wooden table, "I took the stocktake on our items, and compiled a list of our gear.
"We have four containers of dried meat, six oranges, three jars of waybread, five packets of grain, two packets of beans, and a basket of vegetables. Out of the travelling supplies, there are six blankets and three padded blankets for sleeping on. We have two spare cloaks, one medium size and one large. Three packs, two coils of rope, seven flints, four water skins, and . . . one spare boot."
Ivan glanced up at Garet. "It seems to be your spare boot. Where's the other one?"
Garet cleared his throat and looked sheepish. "I was having target practise in the hold, and I missed my mark..." Mia looked incredulous.
"You were hurling your axe across the hold?"
"No," Garet averted his eyes, "I was practising with my Psynergy…"
"What!" Garet winced at the shout.
"I didn't burn anything else... I didn't do it again after I destroyed my boot... "
"You shouldn't have done it in the first place! Honestly, use some common sense, Garet." Sensing another heated argument brewing, Ivan cleared his throat.
"Um, as I was saying. We have one spare boot. As for our weapons, we each have our main swords, axes, staffs and assorted things. Then we have seven knives, two daggers, and one arrow. I don't know why we have an arrow and not a bow, but I suppose it could be useful. Armour. Five sets of chest armour, four sets of leg armour, three shields, and two helms. We've lost a few over time, and some got lost during that big storm. Besides that, there's the personal gear we wear, and our separate scabbards, baldrics and waist pouches.
"Judging by what we've got, we can travel for about a week, on strict rations, on our supplies alone. Of course, we can always snare rabbits and pick vegetables and fruit along the way. Since this land looks pretty large, I think it's a good bet that there would be at least one village somewhere. We can get food and other supplies from there." Finished with his analysis, Ivan took a breath and leaned back in his chair. Isaac sat opposite him, brow furrowed with thought. Garet was chewing on his gloves, and Mia was counting on her fingers, determining something he couldn't fathom. She looked up at last.
"I did my own stocktake of sorts, for our medical equipment," she said, crossing her hands on the table. "We've still got about thirteen herbs, but those don't help much anymore. There's a good amount of elixir and poison antidotes, and we've got one reviving draught. I'm afraid we used up the rest whilst back on land."
"But that's not really a big issue," said Garet, removing his leather glove from his teeth. "You can heal any wounds we get, and even revive us, if it ever comes to that." Mia glanced up at him.
"Yes, there is that. But I'm not so proficient at diseases or illness. When I cured those at home I generally used mixtures. I left rather in a hurry, and didn't think to take any with me." Isaac's quiet voice came across the table.
"What about Psynergy afflictions?"
"Well," Mia sighed, tracing her finger around a groove in the wood, "I can generally cure poison, paralysis and sleep Psynergies. It's curses that I find difficult. I'm no exorcist."
"That's fine. We don't get many curses."
"But I do need to have a fair amount of Psynergy to cure a Psynergy ailment. It's a complex process, involving locating and dissipating the harmful Psynergy. It takes a lot out of me. So if I've used my power to fight a battle, it'll be harder for me to manage."
Ivan turned to Garet. "What do you think of the terrain?" Garet rubbed the bridge of his nose.
"It's pretty flat land around here. The scrubland goes on for a fair distance, about a thousand spans. After that, it looks like there are some dense forest areas. Beyond that, there are mountain ranges, but those are pretty distant. I don't think we have to worry about hard trekking for a few days, at least."
Garet fell silent, as everyone thought his or her various thoughts. Ivan suddenly realised what none of them had asked.
"Do we even know where this is?" Everyone looked up. "I mean, is this land Idejima, or Lemuria? Or is it somewhere we've never even heard of? We could run smack into the Fire Clan, or Felix for all we know."
Isaac frowned. "That's true." Garet shifted on his chair, attempting to find a comfortable spot.
"But we can't know," Garet said, "We've only just barely set foot here. Until we find some people, or a landmark, we can't possibly guess." His face took on a frustrated look. "We're completely in the dark."
"I think the best thing to do is wait until morning, then set out," Mia murmured, brushing some dust off her dress. "We can make towards the centre of the island. If I know people, that's where they would be. At the heart of things. There would have to be at least a temple or religious structure near the middle. People tend to view themselves as the centre of existence quite often."
"Ok then," Isaac said, "We set out towards the centre tomorrow. We take our supplies with us . . . and we can leave the Djinni here, to guard the ship. It's so big, it's bound to draw attention. All twenty-eight of our Djinni should be able to handle the job between themselves. Everyone, off to bed now."
A sudden din of scraping chairs echoed around the sitting room. Grabbing his supply list, Ivan couldn't help muttering, "Here we go again . . ."
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24/04/03 – Fixed some errors.