The Mark of Aether

Aboard The Ship~Part I

"How long will it take us to reach the destination?'' asked Carter, pointing at a very sensitive factor.

"About ten days to two weeks, depending on the movements of the waves and the wind.''

I almost had a heart attack upon hearing the red-haired man, feeling anxiety building up already. That was too much time. Way too much. If we were about to sail from there and back, it would cost us about a month. With no such remaining time, we had to work fast, really fast.

And by fear, I counted every fraction of a minute we still had. I calculated time loss and how much time would remain before the end of the era. Before the eclipse mourning Celestia's death.

"When will we leave?''

"Right away,'' turning to face his crowd, he yelled with his raspy voice, " all sailors take pleace! Shall the ship move!"

His voice had merely the time to echo before the sailors took place, some spreading the sails, others lifting the anchors while the remaining ones untied the ropes.

All in all, it took a close to fifteen minutes before the ship started floating away from the coast.

"We need another favor,'' said Leon, leaning closer to the pirate so only he could hear. The latter listened carefully, immediately nodding, mentioning with his hand to follow him.

"I will take our things to our cabin first,'' said Mayra, taking our duffels from us.

"It is the last room near the abaft—the vastest we've got. Tell somebody to guide you if you're lost.''

The blonde immediately disappeared as we followed the captain. ''There is a room behind my cockpit. It is actually my personal cabin. No one even dares going near it, so rest assured, no single word will get out from within those walls.''

We bee-lined behind Moby, reaching the small cockpit with the enormous wooden helm standing in the middle, before being led towards the backroom. The captain's private place was situated on the upper part of the ship, smelling like the sea and rotten fish. I took in the details of the dark room as much as I could: the burning candles spread here and therefore providing our only light.

The place was a mess; treasures and gold were spilling from everything, a precious crystal ball resting near one oval shaped window, while empty bottles were dispersed randomly on the wooden floor, hitting our feet as we walked.

The pirate stopped in front of a small study desk resting against one commode filled with old maps and some odd, dried insects glued to the glass.

Gross.

He was about to remove the glut of ancient papyrus lying on the wooden furniture when Leon placed his hand on them, ordering the pirate to let him have a look. Not even that red-haired, dwarf-like pirate could stand a chance in front of the shadow's commending glares.

I'd heard from rumors and whispers in the first norm that Leon could bring his captives to torture by glaring at them. It was told that the reflection of his fire could stop hearts by fear itself. That his spear could be the deadliest of judges. A shadow, a hunter, and more of what I knew, he was all of them. A full mystery.

And yet, those words remained rumors. And only when my eyes would witness those acts would I believe.

His astute, ocean blue eyes scanned the charts, diving from one piece of paper to the others. ''You'll be sailing through the hot winds if you follow this track. It will cause damages to the ship and cost you time. It will cost us time. And trust me when I tell you we don't have much.''

''Don't tell me what I already know, boy. I'm an old salt, an original seadog, and I know what I'm doing. But unless you haven't realized it, this is the only available path," answered the captain, a look of apoplexies darkening his face, as though stream was about to vapor out from his ears. He didn't seem like the type who liked to be corrected or told what to do.