Chapter22: Noise of the sea

Megufu would have left right then if he hadn't felt so exhausted; but there were other things that also kept him in south Mille Seseau. For starters he didn't know where he was and hadn't been to this continent in his life. He had no idea of local custom or rules or even how the farmers of Mille Seaseau transported themselves. It was all a mystery to him. He had to wait until he was ready. He could find out maybe what he needed to know from this hermit. Demingrad and Meru seemed a long way from him at that moment.

Raga returned several hours later with a very large dead brown animal.

"What is it?" asked Megufu looking the thing over. It didn't seem to have any eyes legs or hands more resembling a very fat snake.

"Sandworm," replied Raga.

Megufu tried to help Raga with preparing the creature but she seemed to refuse wanting to do herself as she had done for the last five years. She was it seemed wanting to make conversation but unable to make it after being alone for so long. She had to think about the words before she said them. Five years was a long time to be by yourself in the middle of nowhere.

Preparing the Sandworm was a very messy business. Megufu was quite glad that he didn't have to help. Hungry as he was it tasted reasonable once chunks of it had been put into a soup. It was an unbelievable business just making a meal. Megufu got the impression that this was a special occasion for Raga. Normally she would probably not cook it. The shack was surprisingly tidy for what she had to do to eat. There were stains of blood on the wood that he began to notice that he had not seen before. It was inevitable that some of the sandworm would end up on the floor in the shack where there was hardly enough room for a kitchen and a bedroom in one.

Megufu sat on the floor and Raga the same putting wood on the fire.

"Where do you come from?" she asked

"I was born in Serdio but I live in Tiberoa," he replied, "Donau," he added.

"That is a long way away from here," she said, "why were you traveling across the ocean?"

"I was going to Barfa to get a job," he lied simply.

"I haven't been there for a long time," she said quietly almost to herself, "Why did the ship crash?"

"Ship crash?" said Megufu confusedly

"You said the ship crashed when I found you on the shore"

"Yes…" said Megufu quietly, "I don't know. It was chaotic"

"Then there will be other survivors?"

"No I don't think so"

"Why?"

"It was a fierce crash," he said weakly, "Its hard to imagine anyone surviving"

"Why did it crash though? What happened on board?"

"I don't know," he repeated, "It was dark. There was lots of noise. I think the engines might have stopped"

"You must be very tired"

"I am"

"You sleep in my bed tonight. I will sleep on the floor"

"That's fine I'll sleep on the floor don't worry about it…"

"I insist!" she insisted.

Megufu did not reply.

It became dark again much sooner than expected along the shoreline. The night seemed to have crept up on Megufu. For some reason he couldn't sleep. The bed itself was old and the sheets hadn't been washed properly for god knows how long. He felt dirty and unclean. Raga slept silently on the floor. There was only the noise of her breathing in the dark and the distant waves. She was pretty enough. Megufu felt almost that he could stay here.

But there was the fact that he was a dragoon now. Somehow he felt he had a responsibility at least to deliver the spirits in his possession to Meru whoever and wherever she was. She would know what to do with them. There was something sinister going on in the world and Megufu could some how feel it. There was a terrible sense of dread inside him of what would happen if he simply gave up. What would it lead to?

"Besides," he thought to himself, "I never had a very good experience of women"

Probably he thought to himself because he had never been honest. It was hard to admit to a girlfriend that you were a criminal agent working for the biggest mafia gang in the country. He'd lost the woman he loved most not through death or anger but because he had simply not had enough time for her. Always he had to do work for the syndicate – the Virage the Boss. He had worked his way up to the top in the hope of what? How foolish he had been.

He sat up in bed and looked towards the door. He could still hear the sea. A crack of moonlight was reaching under the door. Carefully he pulled back the sheets and crept across the shack stepping carefully over Raga. In the morning she would be wanting to take action – find survivors and go to the nearest town. Likely she would then find out for herself who Megufu was – a criminal. It was time to leave. Opening the door he crept out and closed it quietly behind him. It creaked quietly but the entire shack creaked in the wind all the time.

Looking about him he gazed over through a gap in the hills where he could see the sea. The ground was harsh the earth of Mille seaseau a muddy orange but here near the sea it was sandy with reeds sticking up here and there. The moon shone a half crescent over the sea shimmering beautifully over the waves.

"I guess I'll go this way," said Megufu turning to the unknown land. Quietly he set off leaving the shack behind him.

"Thank you," he said quietly over his shoulder.

The land of Mille Seseau stretched out before him.