Chapter Forty-Eight: The Man
He was just the man.
He needed no name.
He had one, yes.
But names are dangerous on the job.
And if he ever told someone his name, it was not his real one.
With a grim look on his face, that hardly ever went away, he scanned the outline of the village on the small neighbor-island that once had been connected with the bigger Island. But years of dragon-raids had brought this mighty city to its knees.
And the city with its rich culture that once expanded over both islands once, was reduce to… this.
Not that the man cared.
He'd never been here in its time of glory.
Like many other people he'd just heard stories.
Not that he had believed them much.
He needed real information.
He made sure his boat was tied tightly to the landing post before he walked fast towards the village.
Halfway off the landing base a blond boy in blue cloth, hardly older than eighteen, stepped into his way.
"Stop. Declare yourself. Who are you, where do you come from, and what do you want stranger? Hardly anyone sets foot on Port East anymore." He asked suspiciously.
The man sighed.
Of course nobody came around anymore, he thought sarcastically. You made sure that only rumors got through. You cut yourself off the rest of the world. So of course you were forgotten. No one has heard from you in like twenty or thirty years.
Longer then you have been alive son.
But he decided to play along.
"My name is Harold. I'm a fisher from an island a few days from here. And to be honest I don't know where I am. There was a terrible storm a few nights ago that set me off course. I lost my maps. So I decided to sail until I find land s I can ask the people where I am and find a way home. I don't want to bother you. But I have a family and I need to get back fast."
He hesitated. Of course he wasn't afraid of getting caught. There were so many Islands in this waters that it was hard to keep an eye on all of them, so his story wasn't too hard to believe.
Besides, he had been born on one of these Islands. But that was a long time ago and a different live.
And storms hit everywhere at this time of the year.
The cold wind of the Archipelago in the north would travel fast west and mix with the dry win of the great desert of Kinkal and hit the ocean of the east.
"You said I was in Port East? Wow. I've heard so many stories!" he exclaimed. He was professional, he knew how to keep a face.
The boys face hadn't changed much.
"Which island?" "Ethereal. Ever been there? It's wonderful for raising a family." "Can't say so." The boy's eyes had hardened a bit. "It belongs to Derandolian Island-Colonies, doesn't it?" It was a trick question to put him off.
But he was a professional.
"Oh no. Many think so because the Colony is near us, but we actually belong to the Triangle-Companionship."
It was the official term for huge group of island that all lay closely together and traded amongst each other under different terms than outside.
The boy nodded.
"Right. Always get that wrong." He smiled and the man smiled back but both their smiles were fake.
"I assume you will want to talk to our librarian than. He has a collection of maps. I'm sure he'll sell you one. I will bring you there." "That would be very nice of you."
As they walked through the village the man tried Small-Talk. Not that he wanted to but he had a character to keep.
"So, you said Port East. Wow. I'm surprised, it was bigger in the stories." The boy glared at him.
And then he said something that sounded like a well trained lie that would have worked on anybody else but not him.
"No, the actual Port East is on the other side of Misty-Island. We're like the backdoor of Port East." He said and forced a smile. "You'll have to sail around both Islands to get there. Then you'll be surprised." He added.
Yeah. Surprised to find nothing but wilderness and be eaten by wild dragons or other nasty things.
"Ah!" he only said.
As they walked on the main road, two guards past them. They were hauling a prone figure between them the direction they had just come from.
A boy, maybe sixteen of seventeen, with reddish brown hair and green eyes.
He had a look of shock on his face and just stared ahead as he was dragged along.
The blond boy that led him, sniggered.
"Bet the chief gave him a piece of his mind and a shock of a lifetime. God, I will enjoy tonight."
The man watched as the boy was brought into a small house with no windows, except for two in the roof.
"Poor lad, what's wrong with him?"
The blond snorted.
"Oh, that's our runt Hiccup. He's insane, always talking about stupid things. Well, he is stupid so he can't do anything else. He's a delinquent and a bastard too. Don't know why we keep him. I guess every village has its own idiot."
The man just nodded.
Hours of unnecessary pretending and mad studying and spending way too much money on a map he didn't need, he was back on his ship.
As he sailed away he threw one last glance back.
The house with two windows in the roof was like a beacon to his eyes.
He only deemed it safe enough to speak when the island was only a tiny speck on the horizon and the sun had lowered itself already to the sea.
"He's there." He told the shadows.
"In a house with only two windows in the roof. He looked unharmed. I don't know about his two companions."
There came a grunt from the shadows. "It's all I've got. Live with it. Get him out." Another grunt and something moved in the shadows.
"Right. So I assume you'll be going now." There was no direct answer. Only a loud splash and seconds later a shapeless shadow swam back to the island he'd just left.
The man allowed himself a smirk.