Lord of Terror Chapter 2
Voyage Across the Great Sea
By Iced Blood
It was only when I was up the ramp at the dock onto the ship did I finally stop and dismount. Meschif walked up to me as I did, and gave me a friendly handshake.
“Ah, good to see you again, Magus. What brings you here?”
“My comrades and I are going to cross the sea with you. How soon is your next voyage?”
“Well, you’re in luck. I was planning on leaving today. I’ll wait until your friends arrive and we’ll set sail. How many will be here?”
“Counting me that will be five passengers with you.” I told him. He chuckled when I did, and I gave him a weird look in response.
“I wonder what kind of people you hang around with, judging on how you look.”
“I’m afraid that if you’re expecting side-show freaks, you’re going to be disappointed.”
“Oh. I just figured since you have those pointed elf ears and that wild blue hair that your friends would be interesting.”
“Sorry. They’re pretty normal. One has weird hair though. And I use that word loosely, considering what my hair looks like. Still, you’ll know who I’m talking about when you see him.” I said, making small talk to pass time. Meschif talked for a while about his last voyage, and it was pretty interesting. At least he didn’t babble. I hate people who go on and on and on about how hard it was or some kind of variation of it.
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I only turned away from Meschif and his story when I heard the others coming up to the boat. I noticed Garnet was with them. I expected it, but still wasn’t sure. I was relieved to see that she was riding with Glenn rather than Crono because I really didn’t trust that boy. Apparently neither did she.
“I see who you were talking about.” Meschif mumbled under his breath, grinning. I nodded in agreement. As they boarded the ship and dismounted, Meschif pulled up the anchor. Garnet walked straight to me. Maybe she liked me? Nah…She only did that because she knew me best. Yeah. That was it.
“Hey.” I said simply. She smiled slightly.
“Does Crono always act like a jerk?” She asked, leaning close to whisper.
“Most of the time.” I said. Crono seemed to hear me, because he gave me a dirty look. I let my hand move toward my scythe, challenging him silently. He got the point, and looked away quickly.
“That’s what I thought.” I said.
“So, Magus. Why are you going to Tristram? Not many people want to go there what with all those sightings of demons.”
“That’s exactly what I’m going to stop.” I said, letting a spark of magical lightning shoot from my hand.
“You seem shocked.” I said, chuckling. She laughed a little at the pun, but was still surprised.
“I just didn’t know you were a sorcerer.” She said. “I thought you were a warrior. You know, an up close, hack-and-slash type of guy.”
“Would my skin be this pale if I was?” I asked, gesturing toward my almost chalk white face. She nodded in understanding, then suddenly yawned.
“I’m getting a little sleepy. Do you know where I could rest?”
“Not offhand. Ask Meschif. He’s over there, steering the ship. He can tell you.” I said, then left, heading toward the stern, where I could catch a good view at the retreating island that was my home. I looked over my shoulder to make sure Garnet had taken my advice. She seemed shy, but she had.
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It was about midnight when I finally noticed that time had actually passed since I last saw the group. For some reason the sea seemed to hypnotize me, and my sense of time just drifted away like dust. I wasn’t tired or cold so I had no intention of turning in for the night, unless out of pure boredom. Judging by the range of activities at this time of night, that just might have been possible. But, knowing that I wouldn’t sleep, I took out my scythe and practiced my technique. After a while I was so into the combat training that I couldn’t see anything else. There was only the scythe, nothing else. I didn’t even notice when I slammed the shaft into a door. I just kept swinging.
“What was that?” Garnet asked, walking out. I heard her, but didn’t acknowledge it. With one final downward swing, I turned around to face her.
“Sorry.” I said, sheathing my scythe. She smiled and waved it off.
“I couldn’t really sleep anyway.” She said. “Where did you learn to fight like that?”
“I learned as a soldier for the Mystic Clan. I was a spy, and I had to learn to kill quickly so as to not attract attention.”
“Could you teach me?”
“You have a weapon?”
“Hold on a second. I’ll get it.” She said, and went back into her room. I waited for her to come back. When she did a few minutes later, I noticed that her weapon was a staff. A well-crafted one, too. I took it from her and examined it.
“This will do.” I said when I handed it back. “Okay. Let’s get started.”
So, through the night I taught Garnet the art of the staff, giving her all the knowledge that I possessed, happy to be given the chance to teach instead of being taught.
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Before I knew it, daylight was breaking, and the others were gathering around us while we were in a duel. Of course it wasn’t a true duel to death, but only to test her skills. She wasn’t much on offense, due to her weapon, but damn was she good at defense.
The duel ended when she finally took initiative and hit me on the side of the head, sending me, unintentionally, over the edge of the ship and into the ocean.
“Oh, my God!” She shouted, running over to the edge and leaning over to look. I, being the show-off I am, hadn’t hit the water as she had expected, but was levitating over the water. I waved up at her.
“Good!” I said, floating back up onto the ship. She was astonished at my ability, which the others had grown accustomed to. I had to wave my hand in front of her face and snap my fingers a few times before she came back to reality.
“Oh, I’m sorry. I just hadn’t expected that you knew how to fly.” She said. I shrugged, as though it was no big deal. Suddenly I yawned, noticing that after a day without sleep, I was tired.
“I have to tell Meschif something. I’ll be back.” I said, then walking to the bow. Meschif smiled friendly as I approached him.
“Listen. I know that you enjoy steering the ship yourself, but we haven’t the time now. Would you mind if I magically propelled it?”
“Normally I would say no, but I suspect since you’re going to save Tristram, you’ll need all the time you can get. So, okay.” He said, moving away from the wheel. I muttered some words in the language of magic, and switched back when I finished the Control spell.
“Be at Westmarch by dawn tomorrow.” I said. Immediately, the boat picked up speed, and I walked back to my comrades, who were taken aback by the sudden increase in momentum. I told them it would be at Westmarch by tomorrow, and went to my cabin to rest.
My thoughts drifted to the strange incident with my long sword and Schala’s plea. I swore, on my immortal soul, on that old cargo ship, that when I reached Tristram, I would not leave until I found her. And if I found her dead, I would not leave until every demon in existence felt the wrath of my grief, including the three Prime Evils and their minions. Afterwards, I prayed to God that, if I died in my quest, that I join her in Heaven, where we would finally at peace, together…
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