CHAPTER EIGHT: HEALTH TO THE COMPANY
The remainder of the voyage across the Dravot Sea was uneventful, but that didn't stop the crew of the Darkfire from keeping their guard up. Admiral Salvo, still seething from having lost some of his men in the attack and almost being killed by Rathbone himself, had doubled the watch, and the crew was always on the alert. Everybody on board attempted to avoid the admiral as much as possible, as he was frequently in a foul mood.
Kyle, in the meantime, had been learning the hard way that travel by ship wasn't what it was cracked up to be. The limited space, the same stale food over and over again, and the monotony of seeing nothing but endless waves was driving him insane. Jessica and the magicians had brought some books along to keep themselves occupied, but he had never been much of a reader. He almost wished Rathbone would attack again just so he'd have something to do.
On the other hand, he never had a hard time finding a card game. Almost all of the sailors knew how to play Royals, and some of them had given Kyle some decent competition, although he always won in the end. Kyle had always been a stellar card player; it came as naturally to him as drinking, fighting, and wenching. Several months ago, he'd won a back-room high stakes Royals tournament in Reza, hosted by an old friend of his, although he'd given the prize money to Nash to help Vane back on its feet.
On one particular day, Kyle was in the midst of a rather heated game against Jessica, Sarek, and Rayner, along with two sailors who had long since been cleaned out. The game had lasted most of the afternoon, and it was now nearly sunset. Kyle had thrashed all three of his companions throughout the voyage, and all of them had been looking forward to revenge.
So far, they were still waiting.
Kyle chuckled as he looked at his cards, and then at his opponents. "Y'know, guys, I really want to thank you. You've been so generous to me this whole trip. And to show you how much I appreciate it, I'm gonna give you all a chance to win back everything I've taken from you. So I bet…ah, what the hell. Sarek, I'm gonna raise you forty kevesim."
Jessica narrowed her eyes as she reluctantly dropped some silver coins into the bowl in the center of the table. Kyle had personally taught her how to play back when they were children, and she was quite good at the game, almost on par with Kyle himself. Today, however, the cards had refused to cooperate with her, much to her annoyance. "I think you're bluffing again. What do you guys think?"
Rayner shrugged. He was a cautious player, and when he stayed in a hand, it usually meant he had something. "He may be holding something decent, or he may not. But the question is…is it better than what any of us are holding? For all I know, my hand might be better than his. I'm in."
"As am I," Sarek said, his face perfectly impassive. Sarek was the most difficult to read, and he hadn't been bragging about his level of skill. However, he had been no more successful against Kyle than he had been against Gryffin back in the old days.
Kyle leaned back in his chair, grinning like a cat. "Hey, it's your money. So what've you guys got?"
"Banner in stars, eleven high," Jessica said triumphantly, tossing her cards onto the table, believing that her luck had finally changed.
"Double joint, mages and sevens," Rayner said, shrugging slightly. He accepted victory and defeat with equal detachment.
"I have a Fortress. A link of dragons and a joint of fives," Sarek said, laying out his cards with a dramatic flourish. He then turned to Kyle, an impish grin on his face. "For your sake, I hope you can beat that."
"Very nice," Kyle smirked, showing his own cards down one at a time. "Very nice indeed. But not good enough, old man. Royal Banner with a Goddess card!"
Sarek and Rayner stared at Kyle's cards, trying not to betray their disbelief. The Royal Banner consisted of a knight, priestess, mage, and a Dragon, all of the same suit, accompanied either by a Goddess or Dragonmaster card. It was the most difficult hand in the game to get, and usually anyone who actually managed to get such a hand would be lynched for cheating, if he or she was lucky. Jessica scowled suspiciously at Kyle as he seized the pot, cackling melodramatically as he scooped up his winnings. "Now I know why you like your new uniform, Kyle," she grumbled. "You can probably hide a whole deck in those long sleeves of yours."
"You calling me a cheater?"
Jessica's eyes narrowed. "I wouldn't put it past you."
Kyle shook his head in mock sadness as he leaned his chair further back, savoring his victory. "Ah, the sound of a sore loser. Is there anything more pathetic?"
"Yeah - this," said Jessica as she nudged Kyle's leg, bending his chair back beyond the point of balance. Kyle's eyes bulged and he yelped in surprise as he flailed his arms, unable to stop himself and the chair from toppling backwards, landing with a noisy crash.
"I guess it's true what they say about pride going before a fall," Rayner observed, smiling.
"Laugh it up, shorty," Kyle grumbled as he got to his feet. "When I'm done with her, I'm gonna…"
The sudden ringing of an alarm bell interrupted Kyle's threat. They could hear Admiral Salvo bellowing orders to lower sails and drop anchor, and the ship slowly came to a stop.
"What's going on?" Jessica asked.
"Maybe Rathbone's back," Kyle suggested.
Sarek shook his head. "There's some fog up ahead. Looks pretty thick, too. We'll just be stopping until it clears up."
"How long will that take?" Kyle asked impatiently.
"Hard to say. It could be a few minutes, or it could be hours. Curious, though…we came upon it rather suddenly, and it is unusually dense. I wonder…"
On an impulse, Sarek removed some papers from his coat pocket. Kyle suddenly began to feel anxious. Was he thinking what Sarek was thinking?
Admiral Salvo approached the group, scowling. "Anything the two of you can do?" he said to Sarek and Rayner. "We're supposed to be near our destination, but this fog doesn't look like it'll let up any time soon."
"It won't," Sarek said softly, as he put his papers away, an odd expression on his face. "Not on its own, anyway. That's no natural fog."
"What do you mean?"
Sarek smiled. "It's a security measure of some sort. Something is here that someone obviously doesn't want to be found. And there's only one thing I can think of that matches that description."
"Oh, quit with the suspense already! What do you think is here?" Salvo demanded.
"Our destination, Admiral," Sarek replied. "Zerimar Island. The home of the Dragon's Graveyard."
Kyle and Jessica looked at each other in stunned silence. Could it be?
Salvo linked in surprise. "Are you serious? You mean we actually made it?"
"Well, we won't know for sure as long as that fog's in the way," Sarek said. "But perhaps I can do something about it."
He walked over to the bow, the rest of the party following behind him. He closed his eyes and raised his staff high above the waters as he began to chant. "Hisbir shimiyam! Soneh daha birihuk!"
There was a sudden gust of wind, and slowly, the thick fog began to dissipate. Little by little, as the fog disappeared at an almost tauntingly slow pace, a land mass in the distance was becoming visible. The clouds seemed to gently roll back, and then as if by magic, Zerimar Island was revealed to them.
"By The Goddess," Rayner whispered.
They stood together in reverent silence as they stared out over the glimmering waters at the massive island now revealed to them. It was covered with snow and ice, and there were endless mountains, crags, and valleys scattered throughout a vast, frozen wilderness. The island seemed to radiate an ethereal glow as the ice reflected both the luminous brilliance of the sunset and the gentle light of the Blue Star above.
"We're here…we're actually here," Jessica whispered.
Kyle said nothing, staring at Zerimar Island silently as he tightly wrapped his arm around Jessica's shoulder. He was beyond words, his feelings beyond description. There was only a triumphant, ecstatic euphoria. The greatest adventure in Lunar's history was about to be achieved, and he was the one that was going to do it. And it would be his own adventure, not one where he was playing sidekick to a Dragonmaster or to his father. From now until the end of time, people would tell the story of this adventure, the greatest adventure of Kyle of Nanza.
He rather liked the sound of that.
-x-x-x-
"Mmmmm…a little to the left," Jessica moaned, stretching herself across her mattress as she savored the feel of Kyle's strong hands massaging her sleek, bare shoulders.
"Geez, you're tense tonight," Kyle grunted from the exertion.
"Nah, you're just getting wimpy in your old age. The muscles of us beast-people are too much for your puny little fingers to handle."
Kyle smiled lewdly as his hands began to slide down her back. "Then maybe I oughtta give my fingers something else to do."
"Your fingers are fine where they are, buddy. Just keep 'em there for a couple more minutes."
"Only a couple? Don't tell me you've had enough already?"
"Afraid so," Jessica mumbled into her pillow. "We should get some sleep soon. We shouldn't make it too late of a night."
"Sleep? How the hell can you sleep?" Kyle exclaimed. "For Althena's sake, we're only a few hours away from finding the Dragon's Graveyard and the greatest treasure of all time! After this, we're gonna be more than just Heroes. We're gonna be legends!"
"Even legends need their sleep, dear," Jessica said. "And you don't want your story to begin with 'he fell asleep on the road because he didn't rest up the night before,' do you?"
"I guess not," Kyle sighed. "Wait, did you just call me 'dear?'"
"Yeah, what's wrong with that? Lovers call each other 'dear' all the time."
"Yeah, when they're old geezers. We're not old yet – hell, I'm only nineteen."
"Hard to believe, isn't it?" Jessica whispered. "We've seen and done so much in such a short time. And we still have so much time ahead of us."
"Yeah," Kyle said. "Kinda makes you wonder if there'll be any more worthy adventures for us after this one. Stopping Ghaleon and the Vile Tribe, finding the Dragon's Graveyard…what's going to be left for us after that?"
"Plenty," Jessica chuckled. "Getting married, having kids of our own, raising a family...I'm sure that'll give us all the excitement we can handle."
"Man, kids of our own," Kyle whispered. "You know, I dunno if I've ever actually though about it before...about being a dad."
"Never?"
Kyle shrugged. "Well, sorta. But it's always been like a hazy 'what if' type of deal. I never really had a clear picture of what it would be like to be a dad, or what our kids would be like."
"Well, I hope they take after their mother, or else we're gonna wind up with a bunch of dumb bastards," Jessica chuckled, and then she yelped as Kyle gave her a thwack on the backside.
"Okay, after that, you don't get to razz me anymore about spoiling the moment," Kyle said.
"Sorry."
"S'all right. Actually, now that you mention it, kids kinda do take after their parents, don't they? You, me, Alex, Mia...we were all shaped by what kinda people our parents were. It just gets me thinking...what am I gonna shape our kids into? What'll they learn from me? How to hold their liquor and how to win a fight?"
Jessica turned over and took Kyle's hands in her own. "You'll be able to teach them a lot more than that, Kyle. How to stand by someone, no matter what...how to fight for others...how to pick yourself up after a fall, and make yourself more than what you are. And how to have fun and enjoy life, when it's the right time to do so. And that's why you'll be just as good a father as you are a son."
She gave Kyle one last lingering kiss before lying back down. "C'mon, get some rest. Tomorrow's gonna be a big day."
Within moments, Jessica was asleep, but Kyle remained seated where he was, watching her sleep. You really are the best thing that ever happened to me, Jess.
He thought about all the other girls he'd been with, all the times he'd cheated on her, and as much as he'd enjoyed those good times, it had been worth giving them up for Jessica. He found himself idly wondering what his life would've been like if it hadn't been for her, and he couldn't even imagine it. Despite all their differences, all their fights, the two of them had a special bond that Kyle would never give up for anything. He'd almost thrown it away, and he probably would have had it not been for his father's advice. It was one more thing he owed the old man for.
-x-x-x-
Four years ago…
Kyle staggered into the house, trying unsuccessfully to keep his balance. His head was still foggy from one too many beers and the attentions of a lovely young companion whose name he was trying to remember. He belched loudly as he headed up the stairs to his bedroom, looking forward to sleeping this off. He was going to feel awful in the morning, but it was worth it.
"Out rather late, weren't you?"
He managed to sober up a little bit as he saw Gryffin sitting at the table in the center of the room, looking very stern…possibly even angry. He'd never seen his father get angry at him before, certainly not for having a good time at a party. What's with him?
"Not the first time," Kyle said groggily.
"Where have you been?" Gryffin asked coldly.
Kyle gave his father a crooked grin. "At the Rusty Dagger."
"Alone?"
Kyle chuckled "'Course not! I had company."
"Cara, right?" There was an edge to Gryffin's voice Kyle had never heard before. At least not when Gryffin had been speaking to him.
"Yeah, so? What's the big deal? We were just havin' a little fun."
"A little fun," Gryffin repeated.
"Uh…yeah. What's wrong with that?"
Gryffin's angry glare intensified. "What the hell are you doing fooling around with another girl? You have Jessica. You don't need to be bothering with anyone else."
"Ah, come on," Kyle laughed. "Jess is crazy 'bout me. She ain't gonna ditch me 'cause I mess around with other girls."
"You sure about that?"
"Hell yeah!" Kyle warbled, swaying unsteadily. "She knows she's th' one for me, and I'm th' one for her."
"Exactly," Gryffin replied sternly. "The one. That means you and her - and only you and her. When two people make a commitment to each other, there's no room for anyone else on the side."
"You make it sound like we're already married'," Kyle said dismissively. "'Sides, have you seen Cara lately? The little girl next door's all grown up!" He chuckled to himself as he continued to climb up the stairs.
"Where the hell do you think you're going?" Gryffin snapped. "Get down here! We're not done talking yet!"
Surprised by the anger in Gryffin's tone, Kyle silently plodded down the steps and tried his best to stay steady on his feet. Gryffin had rarely lectured him before, so whatever this was about, it had to be serious.
"Now you listen to me, kid," Gryffin snarled. "Jessica is in love with you, and I know you feel the same way about her. You've really got something special together, and you're gonna risk throwing that away over a one-night stand with some floozy with a nice rack?"
Kyle laughed uneasily, hoping to diffuse Gryffin's anger. "It ain't just her rack, Dad. It's her…"
Gryffin responded by slamming his fist on the table, almost punching a hole in it. "Shut your mouth and listen! I know you're fifteen now, and you're supposed to make your own mistakes. And I've never tried to tell you how to live your life or keep you from having a good time with your friends. But if you keep up this kind of behavior, you're going to end up hurting Jessica. And I'll be damned if I'm gonna sit back and let you do that! You hear me?"
Kyle flinched at his father's words. "Yeah…yeah, I hear ya," he said in a low voice, his head finally clear. "Sorry."
"You'd better be. 'Cause it won't be me you'll have to say 'sorry' to. Next time, it'll be Jessica. And when you cheat on someone, sorry ain't always enough. There's nothing worse you can do to a person than betray their love and their trust in you. Understand?"
"Yeah. Won't happen again."
Gryffin nodded, his anger spent. "Alrighty. Get some rest. We'll train later today, okay?"
"Okay, Dad."
-x-x-x-
Kyle stared down at Jessica sleeping beside him, still remembering Gryffin's words from long ago. He had told his father he'd never mess around with any other women again after that fight they'd had, but he hadn't listened to him. There had been other women, and Gryffin was right. It had hurt Jessica whenever he'd cheated on her; his father had been right about that. But through it all, she still stuck with him. She even went so far as to risk her own life to help Kyle find the Dragon's Graveyard, all to help him put some old ghosts of his past to rest.
Funny. Dad was always telling me how important it is to keep my word, and here I am on a quest he made me swear not to go on in order to honor him.
His mind wandered again, this time reminding him that he'd be getting married in not too long, taking his vow before Althena – or her priestesses, anyway, since the Goddess wasn't around anymore – to love and honor Jessica for the rest of his life, and to always be there for her. Just like she's always been there for me, no matter how many times I screw up. I don't know what I did to deserve you, Jess, but I'll do whatever it takes to hang on to you.
And someday...someday soon...I'm gonna tell you everything, Jess.
He gave her one last kiss on the forehead before settling down and trying to sleep.
-x-x-x-
The next morning, Admiral Salvo and Sarek stood at the bow of the Darkfire, surveying the frozen wasteland ahead. The ship was comfortably docked, and the gangplank was already set up. All else that needed to happen was for Kyle, Jessica, and Rayner to arrive.
"Are you sure you don't want any of my men to come along with you?" Admiral Salvo asked. "You may need the back-up."
"I think the four of us will manage on our own," Sarek said. "Besides, you may need every man should the ship need defending from Rathbone's crew, or any other random encounter that may occur."
"It's your funeral," Salvo said with a shrug.
"It may very well be," Sarek said wryly. "I'd rather not say the same for any of your men."
"So how long do you want us to wait for you? How will we know if...y'know...anything's happened to you?"
Sarek cupped his hands and began to whisper. A small orb of light slowly formed in his hands and transmuted itself into a small glass globe. A soft blue light shone in the globe's interior.
"If the light in that orb goes out, it means we won't be coming back," Sarek said as he handed it to the admiral. "So just keep an eye on that. As long as that light keeps shining, it means we're safe and sound."
Salvo looked at the globe curiously. "Never seen one of these before."
"I created them," Sarek explained. "I thought they might come in handy for situations such as this."
Salvo nodded. "You guys take care of yourselves. I don't want to come back to Meribia without the governor's daughter with me. I'd rather take on whatever's waiting for us on this island than have to break the news to Hell Mel."
"I'll look after them. That is why I'm here, after all."
Salvo held up the orb and smiled. "If you have any more tricks up your sleeve like this one, I'm sure you will."
At last, Rayner appeared on deck, a small satchel slung over his shoulder. His solemn eyes betrayed his excitement in almost the exact same way that his father's did. "Where are Kyle and Jessica?" he asked. "Aren't they ready yet?"
"I'm not sure," Rayner said. "And I'd rather not be the one to wake them if they're not."
"That's smart," Sarek chuckled. "From what I've seen, I'm not sure whose temper you should be more cautious of: Kyle's or Jessica's."
At last, Kyle and Jessica emerged on deck, and Kyle was wishing he'd taken Jessica's advice the night before and gotten more sleep. The morning light nearly blinded him, and he felt slightly heavy on his feet. But the enthusiasm of the moment was taking hold, stronger than any tiredness he felt. He kept thinking this was a dream, that they weren't actually about to set foot on the island home of the Dragon's Graveyard, that he'd wake up any moment back in Meribia. But the harsh icy wind, the salty smell of the sea, and Jessica's tight, encouraging grip on Kyle's hand felt too real. He stared at Zerimar Island and grinned, seeing the frozen terrain and empty vastness as a challenge to be overcome. A challenge worthy of his father.
Jessica was right. This was truly the way to honor Gryffin's memory.
"So where're we headed?" Kyle asked Sarek.
Sarek consulted the map and the notes he'd copied from Damon's book. "It's two days march to the Graveyard. We'll mostly be traversing over extensive frozen wastelands, and we'll have to navigate our way through some canyons and valleys – it looks like there's a lake of some sort at the end of the last one of those we need to pass through. There are numerous caves around the area, just in case we need shelter for the night."
"Only two days and back, huh?" Jessica remarked, wishing she'd known to bring warmer clothing. "That doesn't sound so bad. Does the book mention anything else?"
Sarek shook his head. "Nothing. Certainly not what's waiting for us once we reach the temple."
"Guess we'll just have to be surprised then."
"So are you ready to disembark?" Admiral Salvo said.
"Not yet," Kyle announced. "I've gotta say something first. I'm not really one for fancy speeches, especially when it comes to thanking people for helping me out...but I just wanna thank the three of you for doing this for me...and for the old man. I'm sure this would mean a lot to him."
Rayner inclined his head slightly, giving Kyle his typical half-smile. Sarek merely grinned broadly, while Jessica squeezed his arm reassuringly. None of them spoke, but none of them had to.
Kyle wrapped his arm around Jessica before flashing a grin of his own. "Let's go find that temple," he said.
-x-x-x-
"They're heading out," Rathbone said as he looked through the spyglass. "Just the four of them."
"That's it?" Quentin exclaimed. "This'll be easy!"
"No, it won't," Skai said darkly. "They're still powerful, and quite skilled. We may be able to overcome them, but it won't be easy."
Quentin rolled his eyes. "Oh, come on! We still have over a hundred men left! You actually think they can stand against those odds?"
Skai closed in on Quentin, a steely look in his eye. "Well, you've gotten pretty brave all of a sudden, haven't you? Are you still going to be that brave when you're facing them again, or are you going to run and hide?"
Quentin's fists clenched. "Maybe if you hadn't been sleeping during the fight, you'd have seen that I didn't run away!"
Skai instantly reached for a knife, but Rathbone laid a restraining hand on the assassin's shoulder. "Enough!" the pirate captain snapped. "We don't have time to waste on your bickering! Remember, our plan is now to follow Kyle and his friends to the Dragon's Graveyard. We won't attack them until they've found it. Now let's go before their trail goes cold!"
"Not to worry, Captain," Skai replied. "I can follow them anywhere."
The marauders gathered their equipment and supplies, and marched off the ship, eager for a shot at both vengeance on the men who had killed their comrades, and the thought of the plunder that could be won from the Dragon's Graveyard. Once they had all disembarked, Rathbone stood before them, Skai at his side. Seeing his men all together, Rathbone was struck by how many of his men he had actually lost in the battle on board the Darkfire. They had followed him on many campaigns and capers, and they had proven their worth time and again. Rathbone was not a sentimental man by nature, but he felt he owed it to his fallen underlings, killed following his orders, to avenge them.
"Before we begin the hunt, I have a warning for you all," Rathbone said. "Do not let yourself be taken off-guard just because we have the advantage of numbers. They are strong, they are powerful, and they are experienced. Kyle of Nanza and Jessica de Alkirk are two of the Five Heroes who defeated Ghaleon, and I advise you not to lose sight of that. We are not going to win if we lose our tempers or if we get overconfident. But we are going to win! We owe it to our slain comrades to succeed in our quest and rid Lunar of Kyle of Nanza once and for all!"
As Rathbone's men erupted in a raucous cheer, Skai stepped forward. "And I have a warning of my own," he said in a low but commanding voice. "Nobody kills Jessica de Alkirk. She's mine, and mine alone. Rough her up if you have to, but save the killing blow for me." He drew a pair of freshly-made throwing knives from his holster for emphasis, which succeeded in intimidating the pirates.
Rathbone nodded in satisfaction. "All right, then. The time for speeches is over. Now we march!"