Wow, it's been awhile! And by awhile I mean something like a year! I think I owe everyone an explanation, but I don't know how to explain except that I lost two full documents of this chapter and the next, and I've finally gotten around to rewriting and reentering the world I began creating over a year ago.
Disclaimers in, well, you know. This is just the beginning of Chapter 28, I'll update as soon as possible on the rest of it.

I also wanted to take this chance to get a few pronunciations in for some of the words and names of the Mijjorians. K'Gar is largest port city in Mijjori, and as a city the ' signifies that the first letter, in this case, "K", is pronounced separately. Thus, K'Gar sounds like "Kay-Gar". This is true also for major bodies of water. Small towns and villages, as well as names of people, are pronounced differently. As in the case of S'Lora, the ' signifies that it is pronounced as one word, with the first letter leading into the next. Thus, S'Lora sounds like "Suh-Lora". Mijjorian sentences are filled with excess words due to heavy cultural tradition in which the speaker often confirms and give details to what he is saying so that there is no misunderstanding between the two parties.

Ch. 28

Ah! what is not a dream by day
To him whose eyes are cast
On things around him with a ray
Turned back upon the past?

-Edgar Allen Poe

Inside, it was as if they were going through a tunnel made of metal, the water lapping at the boats edges as it bumped along, and then suddenly, the tunnel widened. The metal walls yawned out on either side of them as they swept out from under the low tunnel ceiling and entered the cavernous bay.
"Everyone stay sharp," Ichiro muttered quietly. Some of the crew nodded, others were too distracted. Link shuddered, taking in the light fog that settled on the water as if he were on Lake Hylia and not in the belly of a gigantic metal ship. He couldn't even see the walls around him, or the ceiling above, the way lit strangely by some light source above them.

"Like the sun," He breathed. It seemed as if he were voicing the thoughts of several other crewmembers of the late New Dawn by the nods that followed his statement. Tappor was busy muttering to himself, looking around with an expression that could only be described as pure joy. Even the Captain found himself speechless, at least, for a few minutes.

"Stap me rudder," he finally uttered, and shook his head several times, finding nothing else to say.

"Magic," Tappor said at last, with evident pride in their rescuers' ship, and fell to further muttering.

Their rescuers seemed to be enjoying their childlike amazement, throwing snatches of light conversation between them, obviously amused and glad to be home.

Home, Link thought, could Tappor be right? Could this be their home?

The only sound aside from the low lull of conversation was the gentle lapping of the water against the boat sides, and a far off, as they passed, the splash of water against greater shapes that loomed closer in the fog. A crewmember sitting at the head of the first boat was the first to recognize them as the boats neared.

"Dip me in the waters an' calls me a Zora- Cap'n One Eyed Deadleg! Thar be ships in 'ere! Same size as the New Dawn, bless 'er!"

Some crewmembers began to stand up in their excitement, before the Captain roared them back into their seats, causing a stir among the boatmen.

"Easy, Captain," Ichiro gritted, stopping himself from automatically reaching for his sword. "We're not safe yet."

Deadleg was too busy gaping, himself, though. "Avast! Thar be more ships 'ere than in all me 'istory as a Cap'n!"
"An yor father's 'ist'ry, too, Cap'n!" A grizzled sailor piped up. Deadleg was too stunned to do anything further but nod.

"It does only makes sense," Tappor said matter-of-factly, wiping the condensation from his spectacles. "If this is indeed a sea colony, then I surmise they must receive a plethora of guests by water vessel." His eyes gleamed like that those of a child with a sudden abundance of new toys, unsure of which one to focus on first. "I imagine the light that we are experiencing is also of a magical quality- extraordinary!"

It was true that the light from above was impressive, as filtered as it was by the fog that rolled over the water, cutting out most of their view of the docked ships they were now easing by, the runners and joints creaking ghost-like from the tall shadowy giants. Link gripped the side of the boat he sat in, peering around, under the irritated eyes of Ichiro, at the long docks they were now approaching, where brighter lights, looking more like the lanterns from home he could recognize.

"Welcome committee," Ichiro murmured darkly, nodding towards the nearest dock. Link followed his eyesight, spotting the figures, half glowing and half murky in the fog lights, waiting for them ahead.

Sheik woke abruptly to the sound of voices on the other side of the door. He squinted in the dark, sharp eyes taking in the still, slumbering shape of Koji and the more general shapes that inhabited the room. He sat up, slipping out of his bed to walk stealth-like to the door.

Recognizing the voices of their host and his family, he relaxed slightly, wishing not for the first time that he understood their words. The discussion seemed to be strained, with a good deal of voices rising in question and then being hushed.

Sheik stepped forward suddenly, opening the door. The girl jumped, her eyes widening in surprise. Her parents, he noted, did no more than turn to look at him, looking weary and old in the half moon's light.

"Traveler, standing before me," Ru'Tl began, his voice that of an old, tired man's, "though you do not, as I stand here, know my language, and I do not, in truth, know your language, I have come, as a father, with a request."

"Father, I do not, as I stand here, understand!" S'Lora grabbed her father's arm, the feeling of danger almost palpable in the air. Her mother placed a soothing hand on her shoulder, trying to calm her daughter as she looked upon her for the last time.

"Daughter, whom I love, do not despair! We will, as the sun rises, see each other again!"

Koji had awoken when the door had opened, and now he stood back in the shadows, behind Sheik, blinking dark eyes in tired confusion. Sheik glanced back at his approach, and then to the distressed family at the door. Over the farmer's shoulder there was slung a knapsack and a travel bag, discolored by age. He looked to the panicked girl, the tight expressions, and spoke.

"They have come for us," He said simply, looking the farmer in the eye. He could almost see an understanding and a motive in the half lit features of the farmer. There was intensity in the mother's eyes, and in the way she held her daughter to her, and Sheik understood. "We will go together," He held his swathed hands up, beckoning for them all to come in. The farmer shook his head, and his daughter began her questioning anew. Sheik turned and walked past Koji, his mind racing.

"It is, in truth, for safety, daughter," Ru'Tl said, taking his daughter by the arm and leading her forward. She looked for a moment as if she would rebel, but at last deflated, letting her father lead her into the room. He dropped the two bags on the floor in front of Sheik, who eyed them and then him.

"We have to go," he said, taking in Koji's confused expression. "There is danger here." His wretched companion seemed to shudder, looking towards the doorway with unmistakable fear in his eyes.

"T…te…Ma."

Sheik blinked, easing up from the cot where he'd retrieved his pack. "What?"

A heavy silence fell over them, as if some dark taboo had been spoken. Death seemed to hang on the slight wind that tumbled in the doorway.

The farmer's face drained of color, and he gripped his daughter's arm, looking back to his wife.

"What, as he said it, does it mean, father?" S'Lora whispered, as if afraid to break the silence. Ru'Tl looked up at the wretched traveling companion of Sh'k, who averted the gaze of his empty, dark eyes.

Sheik looked at the gaze between them, and shouldered the pack on his back, taking the larger knapsack as well. Koji, seeing this, sprang forward to grab the second bag, taking it upon his weak and skeletal frame in an effort to assist the red-eyed warrior he now considered his master.

Ru'Tl and his wife stepped out of the doorway, as the two former prisoners followed them out, a reluctant S'Lora following behind. She looked one last time to her father.

"I don't understand," she said simply, her eyes flicking to her mother's sad expression. "Why must I go, and you stay?" She had another bag slung of her own shoulder, which contained the only clothes she owned. The farmer put on a brave face for his daughter. "Make your way, as you go, for the coast. K'Gar-"

A chilling sound split the silent night air, sending a shudder through them. S'Lora drew in a breath, clutching at her father's arm. "What is it?"

Sheik scoured the hills with his eyes, his ears picking up the faintest sound of hooves. "Someone is approaching."

"Go, as I say, to K'Gar!" Ru'Tl said, grasping his daughter by the shoulders. "Follow, with trust, this warrior! Go!" He pushed her back, and she stumbled, her eyes widening in fear.

"When shall, in time, you come?" She whispered, searching their faces.

"Te'Ma," Koji said again, the word rising in fear. Sheik looked at his shuddering companion, and then into the night again. "We must leave now," he said, turning to his host. "There is time for all of us to leave."

"Blood magic?" S'Lora echoed, gasping. "What-"

Another piercing sound, now unmistakable in it's meaning, floated to their ears over the shattered calm of the night.

"Bloodhounds," The farmer whispered. He looked at Sheik. "Go, as I say! And do not, in the night, look back!"

The fields of tall grasses that crunched under their feet swayed rhythmically in the faintest wind, catching slivers of the pale moonlight that illuminated the path that seemed to appear before Sheik's eyes.

There was no sound apart from the labored breathing of the ex-slave, and the occasional faint sobs that came from the girl that raced behind them. Sheik could not afford to slow down to accommodate the needs of his companions. There had been a close moment, in the tumbling hills surrounding the farmstead, where the riders had passed by. The three of them had, under Sheik's instruction, sprawled into the dirt in a hill's hollow and laid quiet while the riders passed, something chill and blood-curdling loping and panting along with the horses.

Te'Ma.

Even without understanding the words, he understood the fear it inspired in the farmer and his family. One look at Koji had confirmed some imminent danger. He had not fully understood at the time Ru'Tl and his wife's firm determination to be left behind, but as they moved farther and farther away from the search party and the unsettling howls, the sacrifice had begun to dawn on him.

A soft sob from behind him jarred Sheik back to the present. He blanked his mind against the thoughts, and the thoughts of what they were going to do once morning came, and focused on where his feet were taking them.

They ran on, traveling through the night until even Sheik was tired, and their eyes were failing them in the faint light gray colors of dawn. At last, the grasses broke their lines, and they came upon an old dirt road where they hitched a ride on the back of a kind, albeit wary, farmer's wagon.

S'Lora finally found sleep as the sun began to rise. Bright spots danced in front of her closed eyes as she drifted, her head resting against the red-eyed stranger's steady heartbeat, into an untroubled sleep.

She did not waken until the following afternoon, as the wagon rolled to a halt by a larger, heavily populated road.

"This, as far as I see, is your stop." The farmer said, not unkindly. He had left the three alone as the morning waned on, understanding that they needed to rest. The red-eyed warrior had watched the road with him since daybreak, going as far as to attempt a short-lived conversation. He understood the three of them were running away from something, but they had no hostility, so he had not bothered them further. As they stumbled off the back, the girl turned back to him.
"Excuse me, sir, as I ask. Where, as we stand, are we?"
He nodded, towards the wider, well-used road he was veering away from. "That, as far as you can see it, is the White Sea road. It, when traveled, will take you to the coast, and to T'lar."

"We thank you," She said softly, curtseying. The farmer nodded gruffly, urging his horse on down the smaller road. They watched him go, each lost in their own thoughts.