Chapter 13

As they got to the ship Sabol said, " Varden I was impressed with you at the bar, how would you like to be my personal guard while you are on board the ship? You won't have to pay for passage and the only duties that you'll have are to protect Drayden and myself."

It didn't take Varden long to make up his mind, because that is something he would've done on his own anyway, so he quickly replied yes. Not that the pay for passage would have cost him very much anyway. Then a thought struck him this guarantees that he will be linked to Drayden's side all the time no matter what, but that he will be able to see Drayden all the time now.

Sabol said, " She won't be getting paid anything either. Other than just the trip. You only have to come around when there's trouble." But he figured with Varden being love-struck like he was that he would be underfoot the whole way anyway.

Varden said, " That sounds fair."

Sabol turned to Drake and asked, " You will be joining the ship's crew again won't you?"

Drake replied, " Yes sir."

Sabol said, " Then let us get aboard because we need a sale what the tide."

In an hour they were out to sea. Varden didn't have any duties again, so he found himself with a lot of free time. Drayden also had no assigned duties, so she had lots of free time with nothing to do, but to spend it with Varden.

Drayden tried talking to Varden the very first night as soon as they were alone, but he wasn't quite ready for it, he was still too worried about his father. He didn't want her to see him looking weak. He just needed a little bit more time to get over what he was going through. When she tried to talk to him, he sent her away again but this time he was careful not to hurt her feelings.

As Varden watched the ripples in the water he thought about how he missed his parents. Thinking about what he still needed to say to each of them. Not knowing how many more times he would even be able to see them. He had never even considered them getting sick or dying before this.

After a while, he went below deck and there he saw Drayden. He called to her, but she didn't hear him, and as soon as he started after her a large sailor blocked his path.

Titus said, " Because of you I lost my rank, and I received 40 lashes. I intend to get some payback with interest."

Varden said, " I don't have time for you right now. If you have a problem, you'll have to see me later." Dismissing him as a small child.

Titus said, " How about I just throw you overboard?"

Varden said, " Don't do anything you'll be sorry for."

Titus grabbed a tie pin and then went for Varden.

Varden gave him a right hook on the chin and knocked them out cold. Varden didn't want to kill him all we wanted to do was to talk to Drayden.

As soon as Varden went below deck one of the shipmates threw water on Titus to wake him up.

Titus woke up and at first, he did not know where he was or what had happened. But it didn't take him long to come back fully to his senses. That last incident just fueled his anger, but he was without any real way to fix it.

Drake walked up to them and said, " You better watch out for that one, he has a lot more power than he seems to have."

They asked, " Just what do you know about him?"

Drake answered, " I have seen him kill a dragon by himself not to mention all the other smaller monsters along the way."

They replied, " That's impossible, that weakling there's no way."

" If you were calling him a weakling you better think again, I have seen him do things that the whole crew couldn't do if they were all working together," Drake said.

The more Drake explained the more they listened and the more they believed. Drake told them of his magic treasures. If they could get his sword away, they might stand a chance, but there was little to no way to do that because the sword was always at his side.

They asked him, "Just whose side are you on anyway?"

Drake replied, " First I am on the captain's side as always. Then I am on everyone else's side. I'm just telling you this for your own protection. I believe that if he wanted to, he could kill everyone on board including myself. There would be absolutely nothing anyone could do to stop him or even slow him down."

Titus asked, " What is his weakness?"

Drake answered, " Drayden, is his only weakness, but if anyone was to hurt her, he would probably just kill them." He had a deadly serious expression on his face, they could all tell there was no room for doubt in that statement.

The first mate hollers down and tells them all to get to work.

While all that was going on Varden finally managed to find Drayden. He apologized for sending her away earlier and asked her, "Would you come up and look at the stars with me?"

She had been hurt by the way you treated her earlier, but she understood she wanted to help, and she knew that it was all just because he was worried about his father.

She said, " I would love to look at the stars with you."

They went up on deck and it seemed like every eye was on them. They both noticed it, but they didn't let it bother them and they were there to enjoy the night the stars of the Moon. After a while they got tired, so they kissed, and both went below to go to bed.

Varden had the same room that he had on the trip over, so he was able to put his treasures in the same place.

As soon as he put his things away, he went to bed and got a little sleep. In the morning he awoke as Drayden kissed his cheek. He thought to himself that was the best wake-up call that he had ever had in his entire life.

" Good morning. I'm just here to wake you up, and to see how you are doing." Drayden said.

Varden wished that she would wake him up like that every morning.

Drayden told him, " Breakfast will be ready shortly, and you know how my father doesn't like to be kept waiting."

Varden said, "I will be ready shortly. All I have to do is get dressed."

With a smile on her face, she left the room thinking about him not being dressed. She wanted him to know that she was there for him and that she wasn't mad and would always be there for him.

Varden could tell what she was doing and was glad she cared enough to do it. He loved the fact that she was trying to ease his worrying. He also enjoyed having her come to him for a while instead of him always chasing after her.

He got dressed but not in his armor, he figured that it wouldn't be needed onboard the ship. Besides, he was on board a ship and if the ship sunk, he would go down before he could get it off.

When Varden had finished dressing he started for the Captain's Mess when Titus stopped him again.

Titus said, "So Drake told me how dangerous you are supposed to be. I find it hard to believe that anyone can be that dangerous, especially someone as puny as you."

Varden wasn't that small, he was medium tall and built, but standing there he was a good foot and a half shorter than Titus was. Varden said, "I'm on my way to have breakfast with the captain, we can settle this later.

Titus reluctantly stepped aside and let him pass. He didn't want any more punishment added than what he had already received. Varden continued to the Captain's Mess without anyone else bothering him. When he entered that room only Drayden and Sabol were sitting there.

Sabol said, "I didn't think that you were going to make it on time." Varden gave an apologetic smile and said that he would be earlier next time.

They noticed that Varden had his sword but not his shield with him. Sabol looked at the chair to his right and said, "Your seat is here next to me. You are no longer a passenger you have to make sure you fill your duties and get the respect that the position demands."

Varden nodded his head and took his seat he was used to being put out of the way and only being here as some kind of obligation on the part of the captain having a passenger. Now he has been elevated to a position of respect. Varden felt proud of it and the best part was that he gets to sit across from Drayden and that made him even happier.

It was not long till the others entered the room and took their seats. Breakfast went fast because no one knew just what to say. A few times the weather was brought up, but it was sunny and that was the weather that was expected to stay the same throughout the trip. So, there wasn't much they could say about it.

After breakfast was over Sabol went to his chambers. The mates when about their business. That just left the two of them there together.

Varden told her, "Stay away from Titus he has already been trying to cause some trouble and I don't want you getting hurt I know sooner or later he will be causing some more."

Drayden asked, "What trouble has he been causing?"

He explained what he had been doing before and that they were supposed to meet to settle it later. He told her that he would handle it and not to worry.

She warned him to be careful because Titus has some power, and he was really mean.

Varden nodded his head but wasn't worried at all about it. He knew that Titus didn't have any real power compared to the things that he had been fighting. He was just a large guy and that was all.

As they stepped out of the room Titus was standing there waiting for them to come out.

Titus said, " Are you ready to prove yourself now?"

Varden stepped right up to him looked up into his eyes and without hesitation, he said, " I'm ready whenever you are."

The two of them started up to the deck. Drayden followed them nervously she was biting her nails the whole time. She made sure that Varden didn't see her because she didn't want him to know how truly nervous she was.

As Drayden looked around the deck, she noticed that the man was clearly divided into two groups. Most of the Sailors were on Titus's side as usual when it came to a fight Titus always came out on top. There was only a handful of men standing with Drake on Varden's side. They were the Sailors that wanted to see Titus get what was coming to him. Drake was very uneasy about the whole affair but if he had to make a choice, he knew Varden would come out on top.

Before things got started Drake started offering odds that Varden would win 100 to 1 to lure in any fools that didn't believe what he told them earlier. It didn't take long for all the ones on Titus's side to bet every penny they had including Tituss himself. Drake gladly accepted every bet and did everything he could to get them to give up every bit of money they had.

The two squared off in the center of the deck all of the other men circled around and then closed in. Each was very excited for their own reasons. Most wanted a big payout from Drake. They would be glad to see the traitor knocked down a peg or two backing this stranger instead of their champion.

Varden asked, "Well shall it be swords, daggers, or bare hands?"

Titus let out a laugh and said, "All three."

Varden Drew his sword and stood at the ready, giving Titus a chance to get a sword and prepare for battle. As Varden watched him Titus pulled an enormous sword it was easily a foot longer than the sword that he was using, and it had to easily be doubled the weight of his. As he looked at it, he noticed that it was etched with pictures of various monsters all being sliced in half. If he had to guess it was magical in nature and based on how it looked it had seen a lot of action it was in great shape, but you could tell it had been used a lot. Varden had a new respect for him and took this a little more seriously.

When Titus was ready, they saluted each other, and Titus jumped to the attack with 5 furiously quick attacks, and it was all Varden could do to block them.

The first swing was at his head, and it was not hard to duck out of the way, but Titus was expecting him to do just that and that set up his second swing and it had come a lot faster than Varden had expected it to. Varden was surprised that such a large man could move so fast. The blade had managed to catch his chest and that forced him to move backward. Titus saw him stumbling and without good footing pressed his advantage.

The third and fourth swings came one after the other in a flash. On the forward swing, Titus once again found a way to hit Varden's chest three inches below the first cut that he had made. and on the return swing, the sword managed to find Varden's leg biting deeply into it. On the fifth swing, Varden managed to block with his own.

Titus let out a laugh as he watched Varden try and recover and find good footing. Varden realized that he had been overconfident and now he was paying for it. Now he was really missing his shield and armor at this point. For the first time in a very long time, he was facing an opponent without them. Varden had to remember how to fight a good opponent without them and it was not going to be just a one-hit battle after all.

Laughing Titus said, "This boy doesn't seem to be all that you said he was Drake. Maybe he needs to run back to Mommy and learn how to swing his sword when he is being attacked. Instead of just standing there like a training dummy."

The rest of the crew really enjoyed the remark. They were all having a blast thinking about how much money Drake would be paying them.

Just then Sabol hearing the commotion came up on deck to see what it was. It only took a glance to get the whole story. He wanted to stop it, but he needed the men to see just what Varden could do even against his best fighter. He had no doubt in his mind that Varden would take him, and he needed Varden to learn how to handle himself on board the ship as well.

This time when Titus came Varden was completely ready for him and his speed. This time when Titus swung his sword Varden easily blocked it with his sword making a bright flash as the two swords clashed. Varden turned and punched Titus in the face with his left hand and he did it lightly he was still trying not to do any real damage.

Stunned by the blow Titus got mad and lost the goofy smile I had. Now he was furious, and he swung with all his might. Varden blocked it with one hand and hit him in the face again this time it was harder. pushing him back and pissing him off more. Enraged Titus let out a scream of frustration and anger.

Varden could tell that Titus had gotten about as much as he could handle. This time Varden swung with one hand down toward Titus's head. He had all he could do to block it with both hands. Then Varden punched Titus in the face harder pushing him off balance and Titus fell to the deck. Varden said, "Enough of this." And turned his back to Titus and put his sword back in its sheath.

Titus thought about getting up and attacking, but he knew that he had been beaten already, so he didn't. He wondered where such a small person could have gotten so much power. He had never been beaten before, let alone by someone so much smaller than he was. He was seen using all the power that he had, and this kid pushed him away with one hand. It seemed easy for him to do as well. Titus was sure that Varden was a lot stronger than the first time they met.

Some of the men helped Titus to his feet while most turned away in disgust. Most of them were sore about the whole deal because they just lost all of their money.

Drake and the others were glad to see that Titus finally got what he had deserved for so long and went about quickly collecting their winnings.

Titus had a new respect for Varden at this time and he knew that he never wanted to fight him again and with the newfound respect that he had, he might even think about joining him.

Drayden ran crying to Varden, she desperately wanted to stop the fight as soon as she saw him get hurt but she knew that he didn't want that and nothing good would come of it. She began healing his wounds starting with the deepest wounds in his chest. Once she had finished, she gave him a big kiss. She realized that was a mistake because it showed just how close they were. It was not like the crew hadn't already seen them together or Drake had told them it as well, but to see it with their own eyes was quite another. As the crew watched the warning that Drake gave also loomed in their minds. In her mind, it was a huge thing, but she hadn't realized that Drake had already told them about it.

The situation calmed down quickly. Once again Sabol was impressed by what Varden could do and the fact that he kept himself in total control even though he had been hurt.

In about 15 minutes the ship was back to running like normal. After a few hours of running smoothly, lunch was called.

Varden in Drayden went into the captain's mess together; the captain was already seated at the table. After 5 minutes of eating Sabol said, " Varden I was quite impressed with you today. Titus has always been my best fighter and until now he has been undefeated. "

Varden nodded and replied, " Thank you. That means a lot coming from you."

Sabol said, " I've never seen anyone that has ever been able to beat Titus. That's the only reason that he is among my crew. He has the personality of a bear but usually, he's unbeatable."

At this point, Varden didn't know what to say. The rest of the meal went smoothly and there was only polite conversation. After the meal was over Varden and Drayden were able to get off by themselves and talk privately. As they watched the sun go down a strange feeling came over Varden that he had never known before. He knew in every fiber of his being that they were in danger, and he told her to quickly go below deck.

He followed her below deck and grabbed his shield and then went back up and prepared. He didn't know what was coming, he just knew that there was going to be something. As soon as he emerged from the deck below, he saw what appeared to be a little flying stone fish. Something strange happened when they touched something it was turned to stone. He watched a fish hit the mainsail a 6-foot section of the sale turned to stone then the fish fell dead to the deck. Varden looked closely at the fish, but he made sure that he didn't touch it. As he watched it, he noticed that it had changed color, it was no longer grayish its color had changed into a reddish color with a black stripe running down the center of it. Then he noticed one more thing, it was the same shape as a symbol on his shield that really made him wonder.

Suddenly he heard Argus's voice from out of nowhere. He heard it say, " There is great danger. You must get everyone below deck. Only you will be able to survive this long enough to stop it." Then the voice was gone.

Varden didn't know what was going on, but he knew that he had to do what the voice had told him to do. He yelled, "Hurry up and get below deck!"

Several of the men just turned and looked at him but didn't move an inch they just didn't know what to do it was not like he was in charge of them or anything.

Varden threw his sword and yelled, " NOW!"

The Sailors dropped what they were doing and started running to get below. As the last sailor reached the door the fish hit him from behind and he was instantly turned to stone. Just then a fish went flying right at Varden's face. He barely had time to react, but he managed to get his sword up and hit the fish.

The fish shattered into pieces and turned back into flesh. There seemed to be seven more fish jumping back and forth over the ship. Varden knew he had to keep them from touching any more of the ship. As he made his way to where most of them were jumping, they started darting straight at him.

The first and second jumped together, Varden seeing them, slammed his shield into them. They exploded into pebbles.

The third and fourth came at him from opposite sides of the ship. He had to think fast. He spun in a tight circle. Using the flat part of his sword, he barely managed to break both before they touched him.

The fifth and sixth jumped way up in the air and dove straight down at him. Varden merely held his shield over his head, and they smashed into it.

The seventh barely hopped over the rail and on deck and hit the board that Varden was standing on. It snapped in half under Varden and sent him falling to the floor below. As they heard the crash, the crew came running.

The crew saw Varden laying on the deck looking mangled with a broken board that had been turned to stone laying on his right arm and right leg. It took six men to lift the stone board off of him which revealed his arm and leg had been crushed. As Drayden saw him, she started to cry.

Varden told the others that the danger was over, and they could return to their duties. As the others left, Varden told her about the crewman that had been turned to stone.

Drayden said, "If I cure him then I won't be able to heal you until tomorrow."

Varden replied, "You know what you have to do."

She nodded and left.

A couple of the crew came down and one of them said, "She told us to move you to your room and to make you as comfortable as possible."

Varden tried to lift himself to his feet, but he couldn't. They saw him trying so they took hold of his good arm and helped him to his feet. They managed to get him to his room without any trouble. After a while, Drayden came to him knowing he would be in a lot of pain. So, she did what she could to take away as much of that pain as she could. The only other thing she could do was to put him to sleep so she would have time to recover her powers.

In the morning, when Varden awoke, he couldn't believe how much pain he was in. His whole body hurt and there was no way he could move his arm or his leg. Looking at them, he saw they were three times their normal size. He had everything he could do to keep from screaming. He wondered what was taking Drayden so long. After an hour, the breakfast bell was rung, and Sabol came into his room. Sabol said, "You are probably wondering why Drayden hasn't come to you yet. After she cured the crewman and then did what she could to help you, she passed out and has been sleeping ever since. We moved her to her room Last night and have tried to wake her several times. But it has done no good."

Varden nodded his head to show he understood. He didn't want to say anything because he was afraid if he opened his mouth, he would let out a scream.

Sable could tell how much pain he was in so he asked, " Is there anything I can do or get for you?"

Varden wasn't hungry or anything at this point all he wanted was the pain to go away and to stop hurting. He shook his head and said with great effort, " No. Nothing right now."

Sable nodded and left the room with a solemn look on his face. He never liked to see anyone in that kind of situation, especially the ones he cared about. And he had really grown to care about this young kid that his daughter loves so deeply.

The day slowly dragged on and there was still no sign of Drayden. Throughout the day several of the crew kept checking on him to see if they could help or give him anything that might ease his pain. But since he wanted nothing there was very little, they could do for him, he heard the lunch bell and then finally supper but there was still no sign of her. More than once the pain was so intense that it caused him to pass out but at least that made the time go by. But another wave of pain would come along and force him to wake up only to find that nothing more he could do except pass out again. After a while, he gave up and just let sleep take him, he had given up hope of seeing Drayden, and this has be the longest day of his life by far, and of course the most miserable.

The next morning, he awoke it's he felt something touch his arm. As the pain of the touch shot through his whole body, he almost let out the screen when the pain started to ease. It was Drayden and she was healing him while he was watching her. He could see the power draining out of her and flowing into him, but he also noticed how much of herself was straining as well. He saw the love in her eyes and the pain in them from seeing him like this. And as he watched he saw the pain seemed to move from him into her and then be disbursed but as it left it was stripping away power from her. This is the first time that he had ever seen her heel someone that was hurt this bad this close.

When she finished with his arm she started with his leg. This was taking a lot longer than his arm in fact it was taking a lot longer than anything he had ever seen her heel before. And when she stopped, she was not finished completely he still had pain and both his arms and legs, but it was a lot better than it had been moments ago. Drayden explained how healing the sailor had taken so much out of her and then when she tried to ease his pain it had taken the rest and it knocked her out and it took that long to regain enough power to be able to even wake up. That is why she had to sleep all day and still didn't have enough power to heal him completely right now. As soon as she has enough power, she will finish healing him.

They were able to spend the rest of the day together and for the most part, they were left completely alone. The only time that they saw anyone was when their meals were brought down by them. They really were enjoying their time together even though there was still some pain in his movement was limited just looking into each other's eyes and feeling the love between them made it all worthwhile.

The next morning when Drayden woke up, she quickly finished healing Varden. He was glad that he was back to feeling his old self again. He thanked her for all her hard work in the kiss and they shared and expressed more love than any words he would've said. Then each of her by the hand and they walked up onto the deck. Varden noticed that the sail and the deck had been repaired.

As they stood there at the rail looking out into the water quietly talking to each other. One of Titus's buddies came up to them from behind and tried to pull Varden's sword out of its scabbard he gave a hard yank and that drew Varden's attention, but the sword was stuck in the scabbard and didn't come free.

Varden grabbed ahold of the man by his shirt and lifted him off the deck and held him over the water.

The crewmen screamed, " Please Don't Drop Me! I Can't Swim!"

Varden said," Them tell me who put you up to this."

" No one I swear." Replied the sailor.

Varden could tell how terrified the sailor was, and he knew that he had to be telling the truth. He said, " Tried this again in I will toss you overboard to the sharks."

As Varden put him down the crewmen thanked him wholeheartedly.

Just then a strange feeling came over Varden it was as if he was being watched. But then as soon dimmed down it stayed there like it was in the back of his mind, but it was always present. The rest of the trip was smooth sailing, and the days just flew by with Varden having lots of time to spend with Drayden it just intensified their love. But the gnawing feeling of being watched throughout the trip remained.