CHAPTER 1
ALL ABOARD THE OCEAN’S DOOM
A soft breeze blew salty sea air towards the shore as people hustled and bustled around the docks. Seagulls flew overhead without a care in the world and the morning sun shone brightly from behind white, fluffy clouds. It was the perfect weather for sailing, or at least good enough to sail immediately for a certain anxious prince scanning the docks for a specific vessel.
“This is Grain Harbour?” Aurora, one of the prince’s lady knights asked, eyeing the few inns and random crewmen loading and unloading the cargo of their ships. Some of the men with questionable character looked her up like a fresh piece of meat and she internally shuddered, hand automatically going to the hilt of one of the swords strapped to her side.
“Worry not,” Isaac assured her. “Once I locate the vessel then we can be on our way and not have to worry about those stares.”
Hurry up then, a voice that could only be heard by Isaac spoke. Find the ship so we can go on an adventure already. I’m starting to get bored.
“Osyren, will you be quiet?” The young prince replied in exasperation.
“You know,” Raine, the other lady knight accompanying him said. “Even though we’ve been travelling for days, I always forget that you have a dragon spirit in your head and it looks so funny when you talk to yourself.”
How many times have I told you not to speak out loud? Osyren, the aforementioned spirit snickered.
Isaac sighed in defeat. Almost three weeks had passed since the Festive Moon, the night which he had distinctly heard Osyren’s call and gotten himself bonded to the dragon spirit. He didn’t know how or why and Osyren annoyingly changed the subject whenever he asked.
The whole point of this dangerous voyage was to find the legendary sword of Alexander which Osyren had revealed to be in one of the caves on the Reched Isles – the home of the very dragons themselves.
Of course, Prince Isaac didn’t know what he was up against, but apparently the sword was what was needed to defend his kingdom from whatever evil was about to be inflicted. And if finding it meant getting rid of Osyren then that was just an added bonus.
“Hey, what’s the name of the ship anyway?” Neil, the unnaturally attractive knight asked, as he stared out in the distance.
“The Ocean’s Doom,” Isaac answered his best friend. “Do you see it?”
“Pretty sure that’s the one,” he pointed to where a massive, dark-skinned man was beckoning them. “Ram sure found it fast.”
“Great,” Aurora sighed. “Let’s go,”
They met Sir Victor Ram by the ship and the bird that was perched on his shoulder was fast asleep. It wasn’t any ordinary yellow-feathered bird, oh no. It was a swift-gust – the fastest bird ever in existence. And it could talk.
Coming closer, they marvelled at the ships size and craftsmanship. Three masts stood proud against the blue sky, sails rigged expertly to keep the ship at bay and not be swayed by the wind. It was an impressive vessel – undeniably armed for battle and strong enough to get them to their destination. Hopefully.
“I have taken care of the horses, Your Highness,” Ram said, his voice an intimidating baritone. “And this is indeed our ship.”
“Good work, Ram,” he answered and started to walk up the gangplank.
If anything, the deck was even more impressive. Captain Callista Morgan must really put her men to work when it comes to maintenance as everything seemed to be in order.
“Na’matoreh!” A male voice greeted.
“Excuse me?” Isaac asked the owner of the voice.
“It means ‘welcome’. Oh, you must be the prince of Isalgia,” a curly-haired young man with olive skin said, seemingly appearing out of nowhere.
“Yes,” Isaac answered. “Where is the rest of the crew?”
“Still getting a few supplies before we set sail.” The young man grinned and as though just remembering he was in the presence of royalty, he bowed awkwardly. “Uh, I’ll show you and your companions to your living quarters. Oh, I’m Artemesio by the way – the quarter master. But you can call me Arty.”
“Isaac,” the prince gave him a nod of confirmation and he and his knights were given a brief tour of the ship before returning to the deck.
“This ship’s amazing,” Aurora mused, gripping onto the railing and looking out to the ocean. When she looked down, she instantly felt dizzy. It was a long way and the fact that she couldn’t swim didn’t help ease her nerves.
“Calm down, Aurora,” Raine laughed, slinging her arm around her red-headed friend. “We haven’t even set sail yet. Besides, that Arty guy is kinda cute.”
“Hard to believe you’d say that after setting your eyes on Neil,” Aurora chuckled. “Bored of him already?”
A feint blush spread over Raine’s cheeks. “You now as well as I do that that’s not possible. I know you’re in love with Jon but even you can’t deny how insanely good-looking he is.”
“I heard ‘insanely good-looking’ and I know you ladies are talking about me,” Neil said as he sauntered over to them, an arrogant smirk plastered onto his features.
“No we weren’t,” Raine blurted.
“Yeah,” Aurora agreed. “We were talking about… Derek,”
Aurora mentally winced at bringing out Raine’s arch nemesis. But then, Neil didn’t know that.
“That jerk who flashed his abs to the entire crowd at the tournament?” Neil seethed. “He pretty much gained more feminine attention than me after that little display of his – why are you even thinking about him when I’m right here?”
“You’re right,” Raine agreed. “I don’t even want to think about him. Let’s talk about someone even better like Artemesio. Isn’t his name just so swoon-worthy?”
Aurora tried not to laugh at Raine’s exaggerated dreamy sigh.
“You can’t seriously be comparing me to him?” Neil narrowed his eyes and clenched his fists. “He’s as ordinary looking as Jon,”
“Hey,”
“Come on, Aurora, you know it’s true.” Neil said, his eyes grew wide as realisation dawned on him. “I see what you’re doing.” He chuckled then turned to Raine. “You’re trying to get me jealous. Well it won’t work ‘cause we’re gonna be stuck on this ship for a long time. Long enough to win you over.” With that, he winked and walked away.
“Oh, you’re so doomed,” Aurora smiled at her friend’s terrified expression.
“I can’t fall for him,” she hissed. “That would mean acting all girly and stuff. Next thing you know I’ll be wearing dresses and covering my face with a fan and going ‘tee hee’ like my cousin. I can’t allow that to happen.”
Raine hadn’t realised she’d been shaking Aurora’s shoulders until she had finished talking.
“Come on, so you blushed a little bit. That doesn’t mean you’ll end up being… like that.”
Brushing a few blonde locks that had escaped her ponytail, Raine looked at Aurora ominously. “That’s exactly what my cousin said.”
“But she’s a Lady, married, and not a knight.”
“Same difference,”
“Here comes the rest of the crew,” Artemesio announced, startling the two young women from their banter.
A few men walked up the gangplank. Some carrying boxes and one man in particular was carrying two barrels beneath his arms. His beard was long and braided and his hair a mass of unruly curls but it seemed his towering and large frame were what people noticed first. Finally, a woman and a little elf boy with blue hair were the last to board the ship.
The elf boy accompanied the large man and the middle-aged woman eyed the newcomers with an emotionless perusal.
“Is that the captain?” Isaac asked Artemesio once the woman headed below deck.
“Oh no,” The curly-haired young man laughed. “That’s our healer, Mrs Pepper. We all just call her Pepper. Well, since everyone’s here, might as well wake the captain.” Using his thumb and fore finger, Arty whistled and Isaac’s eyes widened as he saw a monkey running towards him with a horn in its little arms.
“Is that a monkey?” Neil asked Isaac warily.
The prince could do nothing but nod.
Oh, gross, I hate monkeys. They’re even worse than cats. Too much fur and not enough meat on their bones, the stingy vermin.
Isaac had to admit, Osyren did choose the worst moments to make him want to smile like an idiot.
Artemesio lifted the cute monkey in his arms and smiled at Isaac and his knights. “This is Ignatius – Iggy for short.” He then proceeded to say something to the monkey in a language commonly associated with people from the kingdoms of the far Eastern Regions.
Without turning to see the befuddled stares from Isaac and his knights, Iggy blew the horn he had been carrying. The bird on Ram’s shoulder squawked and ruffled his feathers before going back to sleep. About a second later, a line dropped from the crow’s nest and a figure swiftly slid down the rope as though the manoeuvre had been practiced many times before, and landed gracefully on her feet.
She was definitely young, maybe around twenty, Isaac figured – not that much younger than himself. Her skin was similar to Artemesio’s, her hair was cut short and she wore a crimson doublet with a cutlass dangling from the black sash around her waist and her black lace-up boots were thigh-length and perfectly polished.
“That’s our captain,” Artemesio clarified.
She saluted the monkey with two fingers and he returned the gesture. Facing the new additions to the crew, she brushed the dark hair that was falling over one eye to the side, revealing a feathered earring.
She then became serious. “I am Callista Morgan, the captain of this ship and it is imperative you follow my orders if you all want to make it back here alive and well. No form of disrespect towards my crew will be tolerated and likewise, so it’s best we try not to get on each other’s nerves along the way. This is a dangerous voyage we are about to make and I hope you have been well informed of possible challenges we may face – just in case you wish to change your mind. Do you accept?”
The knights all nodded their agreement, still not ready for words and Isaac cleared his throat.
“We accept your terms,” he answered, still taking the blow to his pride at having to take orders from a privateer. A woman privateer who was younger than him.
“Good. Oh, and everyone has to pitch in around here, after all, this isn’t first class. That won’t be too much of a problem, would it, Your Highness?” she asked cheekily.
“Not at all,” his answer came out through gritted teeth.
I like her, Osyren mused. She’s probably gonna make you swab the deck or something. I can practically feel your pride diminishing bit by bit.
“Shut up,” Isaac muttered. At this point, he wished the witch Fayne would’ve just killed him when she had the chance. At least it would’ve saved him the undoubtedly wary journey ahead with all the insanity on board this ship.
She then smiled brightly, gesturing to them all. “Na’matoreh! Welcome aboard the Ocean’s Doom.”
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A/N: Well guys, whaddaya think of the first chapter. I was trying to find a suitable way to pick up after Red Hood and I hope this was satisfactory cuz I am as impatient as Osyren to get this started.
Thanks for reading and please vote, comment and keep being awesome.
xoxo
-Skyglider