Coming of the Darkstar

Ch5-4 Dracolich

Ben's green eyes narrowed. They reflected the hints of twilight that had begun to flush across the silent sky. The first pale stars peeked from their daytime coverings, unnoticed by the Master Wizard. His mind was focused below their ship, into the darkening stretch of forest.

Forbidden.

Something that should not be there. Something that had passed from life to death to unlife. A stain upon the balance of the living planet.

Surrounded by the pulse of the vast Troian forests, it was hard for Ben not to notice it. The feeling of wrongness wafted up from the sea of leaves below, a death stench.

The closer we've come, the more pronounced this feeling has been. I don't think we should take this route.

Ben turned his head, face grim as he made out the shapes planted across the deck. Captain Silver paced behind her pilot, a constant expression of discontent on her pinched face. A few sailors were bent over their last tasks for the day – net mending or deck scrubbing. The rest of the passengers seemed to have retired below decks. There was no sign of the Paladin King.

"Where's Cecil?" the tall Half-Lunar asked, approaching the blue-haired woman inelegantly. Her stern expression reminded him that he was addressing the Captain of the ship and that his speech should have reflected it.

"Last I've seen he was pacing the aft," Silver replied bluntly. Her manner reminded him of someone that was in the process of constantly sizing up everyone around her. Obviously, she didn't like what she saw in him and she didn't bother to hide it. "Chances are, he's probably put down for the night."

"Put what down?" Ben asked.

"Put down – gone below decks for the night," she grumbled up at him.

"Oh..." he shifted from foot to foot under the weight of her glare. Working up his courage, he told her, "I'd alert your men, Captain. There's something in the forest below us and I don't think it's very friendly."

"Of course there's something in the forest," Silver grated back at him. "There's always something in the forest. And the point is being that we're up here and it's down there. Which is how wes likes to keep it."

"With all due respect, Captain," the Half-Lunar forced himself into politeness, "I can't promise that it's going to stay that way. I'm telling you... put your men on alert, they should be ready for anything tonight."

The nearest group of sailors had dropped their tasks, watching the exchange between the tall white-haired stranger and their Captain. Some offered Ben glances of amused pity. A few others seemed genuinely disturbed by his words.

Silver just looked all the more annoyed. "You're telling me how to do my job, eh? Just who is the Captain of this ship here, matey?"

"Yeah, well... What sort of Captain doesn't heed a given warning when it could spell disaster for the whole ship and crew?" he felt himself losing patience. Very quickly.

"For all we know, you're probably the one staging an attack... Mr. Dark Lord Golbez!" she spat, jabbing a finger towards his chest. If there was any fear for him, it certainly didn't show.

"N-no... you misunderstand!" Taken aback, Ben floundered with both hands spread. He saw he was getting no where fast.

Sheesh! Human women are even more stubborn than humans in general!

"Um, excuse me, if you'd please?" a soft, young voice piped up from the other side of the deck.

Both the Captain and the Master Wizard stopped, eyes turning at the gentle request. There stood a young Mysidian White Mage.