Shipwrecked

What can I say of the Blessed Wind? Not a lot, since I was confined to the darkness of the hold.

It was hard to keep track of night and day in the perpetual lantern-lit semi-darkness. If it weren’t for the slop we were occasionally fed there would have been no way to tell at all. Not that it mattered—with no purpose the period I spent there was like a time-out-of-time. I kept to myself and nobody tried to engage me in conversation. I sat and tried to reach out with my mind to the creatures of the sea. Simon always said it was possible to accomplish anything with focus.

I was thus somewhat surprised when I was pulled to my feet by one of the guards and brought before the captain. There was another convict there; I think the captain said his name was Barris. The captain told me that Barris had helped him realise that the prisoners he transported were victims of an unjust system. Really? The system is only as bad as the individuals that run it. My father was a good leader, but my brother was another story.

They offered me a chance to join them in some “alternate pursuit”, whatever that was. I didn’t really care. It was an opportunity to avoid whatever fate awaited me on Mota, and that was all I cared about. Perhaps it would be a good life. Perhaps it would be like my previous life—nominally part of my family, but in reality living my own life in the wilderness. I pledged my allegiance and was then set free on the deck. It was good to see the open sky, and I basked in the warmth of the sunshine.

Apparently not everyone was so amenable to the idea. A fight broke out below and it wasn’t long before it spilled up onto the deck. My first priority was to find something to fight with, so I headed into the forward cabin and found a quarterstaff.

When I came out Berris was surrounded so I knocked down two of his assailants. There was some guy in robes shouting for people to attack Berris, but I did give my word.

And then a huge wave struck the ship and threw everything into chaos. It happened again. And again. Barris run onto the poopdeck and I didn’t see him again. The mast shattered and fell overboard and then things settled down and somehow the fighting just stopped. When someone went up to the poopdeck there was no sign of Barris. Or the boat. Bye-bye Barris.

The captain was also dead. Maybe that was what took the heat out of the fighting—no captain, no Barris.

One of the sailors was trying to take control. Fine; just leave me alone. I went to find my belongings and located them belowdecks. A couple of the others were searching through the belongings. I don’t think they were just looking for their own things, but I had mine so not my problem. The sailor was trying to force everyone onto deck. I was done down there so I wanted to hear what they thought was happening.

Some of them wondered whether we had enough food and water. The sailor began mumbling something about the currents but didn’t really know where we were headed or when we’d get there, so I mentioned that we would reach Raora sometime just after dark. Except of course that there are reefs and we had no rudder. And there was a storm brewing that would be upon us before dark.

I asked the sailor whether he could drop anchor to keep us off the reefs in the storm. He said he’d try. Let me just say he won’t be a captain anytime soon.

We somehow made it past the reefs and it was probably fortunate that we had no rudder. There was a lighthouse and it was clear we were heading straight for it, which should mean trouble. In this case it was some sort of trap to drive ships onto the cliffs and being unable to steer we had to follow the currents which beached us safely.

Well, almost safely. Whoever it was that had set the lure loosed a volley of arrows as we were trying to decide what to do. There wasn’t much light to see what was going on, and they were concealed behind a hedge. I tried to climb down but hadn’t made much progress before I succumbed to some enchantment and fell asleep.

I don’t know how long I was out, but when I awoke most everyone else was on the sand as well. There was already a melee in progress and I joined in as it finished.

So now here we are, a bunch of misfits on a sandy beach I assume to be reasonably isolated (otherwise it wouldn’t have been a good location for the false lighthouse).

Raora is a reasonably well-connected island and it should be easy enough to get away from here. I’m sure some of the others think we’re free, and maybe they are, but for my part it would probably have been better had the ship sunk. Percy will hear that I didn’t make it to Mota and if the Blessed Wind were never seen again perhaps he’d think me lost at sea. As it is, there’s a giant monument to show that at least some of us made it to Raora and Percy will assume I’m amongst them.