Avarice of the Sea | | b o o k 1

19: Forever Indebted

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WARNING: Mature content

:  C H A P T E R  N I N E T E E N : 

 The island was made of a massive stone table resting upon nature-built pillars on all ends. As I stared up at it while Conroy guided me beneath its strong overhang, I reckoned the thickness of the flat rocky top could fit two of me.

The pillars were carved into with the faces I saw surrounding the archway leading in and out of this lake. Torches hung on the rocky walls that domed over our heads, tunneling down into the depths of the mammoth cave, though they all remained unlit. All around we could hear the rush of running water, and the drizzle of rivulets from the walls the deeper it went down beneath the lake water. A single staircase led down to the collection of fires being held in the hands of Avarice and the other shipmates. The man in the boat remained back on the shore, leaving the remainder of us to descend into the damp darkness.

The steady decline took Conroy, Shannon, Ivan, Archer and I to the level ground where I nearly walked directly into a massive pit with a perfectly circular circumference. Conroy pulled me back from falling completely, but it still made my heart jump into my throat. I realized how skittish I was, especially when I stared ahead at the faces across the circle, and found the firelight glowing on the eyes of each of the men I knew from the ship. They were all watching me, their eyes reflecting a mixture of pity when they saw me standing there, apart from the crowd. I became a stranger again to them, and I never felt more alone, even with Ivan there watching from afar.

"That took a bit longer than I expected," a voice announced from the side, approaching Conroy and I as we stood around the circle. I saw a torch in the man's hand, illuminating the beard on his chin, and the gleam of ice in his eyes.

Avarice stood there, and beckoned me over. "Come 'ere, dearie. We've got to get ya cleaned up before midday." It sounded like a mighty fine idea defying him right about then, but I couldn't deny that my skin felt grimy and I was fairly positive I had a few scrapes that I didn't recall acquiring.

I followed Avarice over to the wall where he propped up the torch in an iron metal holster beside a face sculpted from the rock face. I couldn't stop staring at it and its sharp, menacing teeth while Avarice ordered Ivan to help. A stream of water descended from the mouth of the face, but it was a weak amount of water that dribbled onto the ground and descended the gentle slope to the main ground.

"Incredible, isn't it?" Avarice's voice echoed, even though he kept it down to a low hush. He clasped his hands behind his back and turned his eyes upward, as if he could see something there that in the light we couldn't see. Ivan approached my side, took a handful of water, and addressed the raw skin that the cuffs kept covered until now.

"And what is it, exactly?" I inquired, keeping my voice sharp at the end to imply I wasn't happy about this entire experience whatsoever.

"I've spent a great part of my lifetime to find this place. I was nineteen, I b'lieve, when the Oseaans recognized me as my father's son. He used ta come here, it seems," he explained, a thoughtful, yet saddening expression falling on his face as he buried his hand among the hairs on his chin. I found that I couldn't stray my eyes from him, even as Ivan doused the blood from my face and pressed his palm forcefully to the wound on my temple.

"Oseaans?" I repeated. It sounded similar to the Southern accent of "oceans".

"The people who brought us 'ere," he clarified. "Before me, my father enlisted their help. He's an explorer of sorts, has been since I was a child. I can't remember a time when I'd spent more than a week with my da at a time."