Percy's Point of View
During the trip to Teirm I helped on the Merrybell. Since I was the son of the sea god, I was good at it and I occasionally found myself completing tasks before Torson even told me to do so. This meant that my abilities at sea caught his attention. When he asked me if I had previous experience at sea, I came up with a half truth and told him that my father was a sailor and he'd taught me everything he knew. Of course, any of the villagers who overheard that conversation knew that what I was saying was almost a complete lie, but I knew they weren't going to tell Torson the truth. As much as I enjoyed being at sea, I missed being able to be near my dragon most of the time.
A week or two before we'd reached Narda I'd found out that my dragon was male and after I'd come to that realisation I'd listed some possible names to see if he would like any of them. I'd listed different possibilities before he finally chose one. I'd listed some ancient Greek words, some Ancient Greek names, as well as a few Latin words and Names since I'd picked up a little Latin during my time at Camp Jupiter. I'd also listed a few slightly more normal names that weren't from ancient languages.
In the end, it seemed he'd settled on the word Ágrios and I suspected that choice had something to do with what the word meant. Now that we were traveling to Teirm I rarely saw him since we couldn't risk the sailors seeing him. Most of the time he was still close enough that we could communicate with our minds, but if he needed to hunt, or to stop and rest we would usually end up losing contact.
Our connection seemed to be growing stronger, and as time went on it seemed that the distance apart we could be while still being able to communicate grew. Something else I'd noticed was that now that I had grown a beard, I looked even more like my father than before. I wasn't exactly thrilled about that, but I tried not to think about it too much.
Now I think everyone is eager to reach Teirm since we had all gotten tired of being on Clovis' barges. Much to everyone's relief we were nearly there according to Torson. Once we were close enough that the city was within walking distance Roran got Clovis, Torson, and Flint to beach the barges so we could all get off and set up a camp.
After the barges were beached, we did just that. The villagers were in better shape than they were when we reached Narda since they'd managed to get some rest during the trip but exposure to the elements and stress were still a problem.
Eventually, after the camp was set up Roran gathered some of the villagers and me to go into Teirm in hopes of finding a ship we could take to Surda.
Before we left for Teirm Roran had us accompany him to Horst's tent, where he said, "The six we agreed upon will leave now, before it gets much later. Horst will take my place while I'm gone. Remember that your most important task is to ensure Clovis doesn't leave with the barges or damage them in any way. They may be our only means to reach Surda."
"That, and make sure we aren't discovered," commented Orval.
"Exactly. If none of us have returned by nightfall day after tomorrow, assume we were captured. Take the barges and set sail for Surda, but don't stop in Kuasta to buy provisions; the Empire will probably be lying in wait there. You'll have to find food elsewhere."
Roran and I were the first ones to arrive on the hill where the group of us that would be going into Teirm was meeting. When Loring, Gertrude, Birgit, and Nolfavrell, Birgit's son, arrived, Roran said, "We have to wait for Mandel; he'll be joining us."
"What for?" demanded Loring.
Birgit frowned as well. "I thought we agreed no one else should accompany us. Especially not Mandel, since he was seen in Narda. It's dangerous enough having you, Gertrude, and Percy along, and Mandel only increases the odds that someone will recognize us."
"I'll risk it." Roran met each of their eyes in turn. "He needs to come."
In the end, they listened to him, and, with Mandel, we headed south, toward Teirm.
When we encountered the road that connected Narda to Teirm, we darted across it and continued farther east, toward the Spine, for several more miles before turning south again. Once we were sure we had circumnavigated the city, we headed back toward the ocean until we found the southern road in.
We thought that officials in Narda might have figured out that whoever killed the two guards was among the men who left on Clovis's barges. If so, messengers would have warned Teirm's soldiers to watch for anyone matching our descriptions. We also thought that if the Ra'zac had visited Narda, then the soldiers would also know that they were looking not just for a handful of murderers but Roran Stronghammer and the refugees from Carvahall. Teirm could be one huge trap. Despite that, we couldn't bypass the city, because we needed supplies and a new mode of transportation.
Roran had decided that our best precaution against capture was to send no one into Teirm who had been seen in Narda, except for Gertrude Roran and me. It was also Roran's idea to enter Teirm from the south so it wouldn't look like we had come from Narda.
By the time we made it to Teirm it was already evening. We could see that the walled city stood upon the edge of a large bay. Torches glowed on the battlements, where soldiers with bows patrolled their endless circuits. Above the walls rose a citadel, and then there was a faceted lighthouse, which swept its hazy beam across the dark waters.
"It's so big," said Nolfavrell.
Loring bobbed his head without taking his eyes off Teirm. "Aye, that it is."
I had to stifle a snort, sure the city was kind of impressive, compared to what I'd seen so far in Alegasia, but compared to what I was used to seeing back home it was nothing. It seemed that unlike the others Roran wasn't admiring the city I followed his gaze to see what he was looking at. I could see that Roran's attention was caught by a ship that was moored at one of the stone piers jutting from the city. The three-masted vessel was larger than any of the ones we had seen in Narda, with a high forecastle, two banks of oarlocks, and twelve powerful ballistae mounted along each side of the deck for shooting javelins. It also looked like it might be large enough to hold all the villagers. In a way, the Impressive ship reminded me of the Argo II.
"That's what we need," Roran said, pointing it out to the others.
Birgit uttered a sour grunt. "We'd have to sell ourselves into slavery to afford passage on that monster."
Clovis had warned us that Teirm's portcullis closed at sunset, so we had to hurry to avoid spending the night in the countryside. After we entered Teirm we found a cheap place where we could stay the night, I didn't get much sleep though and it was easy to tell why the place was so cheap. Since the villagers were understandably trying to save as much money as they could they probably would have skipped dinner if it wasn't for my powers.
The next day, we left to search for provisions and transportation. Gertrude said, "I have heard, tell of a remarkable herbalist, Angela by name, who lives here and is supposed to work the most amazing cures, perhaps even a touch of magic. I would go see her, for if anyone has what I seek, it would be she."
"You shouldn't go alone," said Roran. He looked at Mandel. "Accompany Gertrude, help her with her purchases, and do your best to protect her if you are attacked. Your nerve may be tested at times, but do nothing to cause alarm, unless you would betray your friends and family."
Mandel agreed and he and Gertrude left down a cross street, while Roran and the rest of us resumed our search. The morning and the afternoon passed as we searched for a ship to take us to Surda. We learned that the three-masted ship, the Dragon Wing, was newly built and about to be launched on her maiden voyage; and we had no chance of hiring it from the Blackmoor Shipping Company unless we could pay a roomful of the dwarves' red gold; Obviously, we couldn't. It seemed that the villagers didn't even have the coin to engage even the meanest vessel. Taking Clovis's barges wouldn't solve our problems either, because it still left us without food.
"It would be hard," said Birgit, "very hard, to steal goods from this place, what with all the soldiers and how close together the houses are and the watchmen at the gate. If we tried to cart that much stuff out of Teirm, they'd want to know what we were doing."
We all knew she was definitely right about that. Eventually, we stopped at a bakery, while we were there Loring mentioned to the baker's assistant that they were in the market for ships, equipment, and food. Apparently, another man overheard him because he told Roran about an auction that would be taking place. I heard the man explain that a merchant named Jeod had gone bankrupt, so his belongings were being auctioned off by his investors to get the money he owed them. That was kind of helpful, but the auction was still two days away and we couldn't stay that long.
After we left the bakery Roran said, "Do you think we should look into this?"
"It's all we have to look into," growled Loring.
"Birgit?"
"You needn't ask me; it's obvious. We cannot wait until the day after tomorrow, though."
I just nodded in agreement, it was really our only option.
"No. I say we meet with this Jeod and see if we can strike a bargain with him before the auction opens. Are we agreed?"
We all did, I just wasn't sure if Jeod would be able to help us. It kind of sounded like it was his investors who had control over the auction so he might not be able to sell us anything.
We went to Jeod's house after we got directions from a passerby. The house—or rather, mansion—was set on the west side of Teirm, close to the citadel, Roran knocked on the front door to Jeod's mansion, which stood next to an abandoned shop. After a moment, the door was pulled open by a plump butler with overly shiny teeth. He eyed us with disapproval, then flashed his glazed smile and asked, "How may I help you, sirs and madam?"
A/N I realise that the name I chose for Percy's dragon is technically modern Greek and not ancient Greek but it's a bit difficult to find ancient Greek words and their meanings on google. Also, I haven't fully decided if that's the name I'm going to use. If one of you can come up with something I like better I would probably change it. Lastly, I think I've figured out a way that I can still include a ship in this and it won't be an oc. Normally I would let you guys vote on the ship but I've already decided. I will tell you that it's not percabeth.