A New Life

For the first few nights at sea, Markus felt sickly, his body barely able to function properly as every time he stepped out of bed he would throw up his latest meal. The ship constantly rocked back and forth as an unrelenting storm had stayed with them since leaving port, the waves climbing high and crashing over the bow, sweeping sailors from their feet and casting some loose crates over the sides. The sails ripped and heaved against each other, as if they were all fighting to see who would survive the longest in the high winds. Rain drenched the deck, and created peaking waves as the ship rocked from side to side. Back and forth the water on the deck created small whirlpools in the small holes that had formed from the decaying wood.

"Come on ye' lads, heave em' sails under control!" The captain bellowed from his wheel, pulling the ship away from dangerous waves and helping her over the highest peaks. As he spun the wheel, you could hear it twist the cogs inside then a loud thunk as it locked all the way to the right or left. His sailors scurried across the deck trying to keep their feet as wave after wave plummeted on top of them and across the deck, many came under alongside Markus as they took cover from incoming waves, and attempted to not to freeze to death in the icy shower of water they had been receiving.

"Cap'in, she can't take no more!" One of the sailors yelled at the top of his lungs as the wind attempted to steal his voice as it came from his mouth. The wind whistled through the ropes and then another wave crashed over the bow of the ship. Many of the sailors now splayed out on the deck, stunned and frozen, few managed to recollect themselves and ran to the masts trying to tie down the sails and ensure they don't tear in this demon of a storm.

Markus lay in his quarters, listening to all the shouting, listening to the whistling of the wind as it seeped through some tiny gaps in the wood. He nodded his head back and stared at the planks of wood above his bed, a quick glance to the floor beside him showed water slowly trickling in like a mountain stream. His thoughts quickly proceeded into his home in Luik, the fire that consumed it, and then it dwelled deeply on the person that had caused it. Reminding himself of the cloak, the hood and the flame that suddenly appeared, his eyes opened as wide as they could as he grabbed onto the side of his bed, the wood beginning to tear off as he tightened his grip ever further. His eyes stressed, veins slowly appearing on his forehead as he grit his teeth in an attempt to calm himself down.

During his time in Hanuk he hadn't had time to dwell on it, nor on the road to Hanuk. His mind was solely focused on survival and now that he was safer than before everything began to hit him all at once. The grief, the hatred and the lust for revenge seething through his veins, his nerves and his breath. All that he held inside during his process of survival was slowly breaching the thinly walled dam that held it back. Slowly he fell into a deep sleep, during which he saw the flames burning around him, faces in the smoke of the fire being consumed slowly, screaming to him to save them. Yet all he could do was stare at them, the faces distorting, collapsing in on themselves then reappearing. Then a flicker of orange flame flew toward him, landing on him and setting him ablaze but in the fire he felt no fear of that orange flame. Turning in the dream he could see behind him just past the flames, people stood darkened out, every now and then a flicker of the flames would light their faces but Markus didn't know who they were.

For a few nights in a row Markus would have this repeated dream, always the same and never changing. The storm itself had passed over the ship, but the storm still resided in Markus's mind. Awaking every morning in a cold sweat after the dreams, awaking to a loud bell ringing as sailors scurried to their stations and food was served in the hold, the smell of porridge filtering through the rough smell of the sea that slowly overtook it. Some sailors walked over to some knocked over barrels, inside them lay various bags of fresh berries, some berries the colour of gold known in Jyellik for their bitter but refreshing taste, another bag contained purple berries which were sweeter than sugar and most commonly used for making a sweet jam to serve on cake. Markus moved over to the pot and got his serving of porridge before turning to see the captain chastising the sailors for taking the cargo and eating it, simply smirking and laughing to himself as he dug into his bowl of porridge.

As the storm was away Markus sought some brief rest, walking around on the deck looking over the side at the now tranquil ocean laying dormant. He placed his arms on the railing and continued to look outward, a group of whales showing up briefly, a deep blue colour with broken up leather like skin that looked like patchwork, they began to dive, raising their jagged tails above the water going down with a huge splash. The water around the boat was clearer than glass, and lay as a mirror when the sun hit directly, reflecting the light back into Markus's eyes and blinding him for split seconds. A soft grin dwelling on Markus's face as he turned his head slightly to glance at the wheel where the captain lay. Slowly pushing himself off of the railing and ascending the stairs now standing side by side with the captain as the captain's coat blew gently in the wind before briefly collapsing onto his legs.

"What is it boy?" The captain asked, keeping focused on holding the ship steady, every now and then giving a hand signal to one of his sailors to hurry up or get back to work.

"Was wondering how much of the journey was left." Markus replied, moving forwards toward the railing that looked down upon the deck and began to rest upon it.

The captain stared at Markus's back for a second before looking at the sea around them.

"Well, we've been at sea for about several days, but that storm most likely slowed us down. So a week at most is left." A cool wind swept over the ship, a gentle breeze that relaxed everyone onboard. "Is that all?" The captain asked Markus, his first mate now coming over and taking the wheel as the captain began to descend the stairs and head towards his cabin.

"That's it." Markus answered, looking out at the open sea, finally becoming adjusted to its way of life, adjusted to its tossing and turning. The captain continued on into his cabin to lay down and sleep after a couple nights of being at the wheel. Markus sat on the deck for a few more hours, taking in the sea air and relaxing himself. One of the few times he had managed to relax since the beginning of his journey. Slowly the sun began to set on the open ocean, a dazzling gold and orange reflecting upon the waters surface. Like a mirror it seemed to display a distorted version of the sun that was sinking under the water slowly. On the other side of the ship, the moon arose, its silver light causing the peaks of the ripples in the water to look like veins of silver in stone.

Markus watched the moon rise above the water before heading below to his room, there he sat and pondered for a few moments. Thinking what he would do when he arrived on this new continent, his mind flickering to the sigil of the Lunar Wolves. With a brief sigh, and a long stretch he prepared himself for bed, and as he got in and was comfortable, he thought of his family and what they would think about his choices in life.

For the next week the sea was as quiet as it could be, and everyday passed the same as the day before, feeling like an endless loop in time. When the sun broke over the horizon, seagulls could be heard, some flew and landed on the ship's railings, some dove into the water to catch their morning feed. As Markus arose he could feel that everyone was more relaxed, and as he ate his breakfast on the deck he could see it. A blue cliff face, that housed thousands of birds all squawking at the top of their tiny lungs, the ship moved along the cliffs and indented into the land lay the giant harbour and port city.

"Ladies and Gentleman, welcome to Fabnf!" The captain roared as the boat entered the harbour. Markus looked all around him at the giant ships larger than the one he was on, Man of Wars, the elite of the fleet docked here. Giant, bulking ships made with a strong oak and two iron bars wrapping around its length. The sails were the size of churches in Luik and the number of cannons on each side, close to one hundred, thought Markus. The harbour itself was made out of pure blue marble from the cliffs, it looked as new as the day it had been placed there and spanned all across the inlet. Coming off of these beautiful blue marble docks were several small oak wood docks for the smaller fishing vessels that flowed in and out of the harbour on a daily basis.

The ship pulled up all the way to the harbour wall, the sailors tossing a long rope to the workers on the docks who then fed it through a wheel which spun with two other workers both spinning it with a crank. Slowly the back of the ship wheeled around and came up to the harbour wall, and then the same was done with the front. A gangplank was then dropped between the ship and the docks whilst the workers unravelled the ropes from the wheels and began tying down the rope to secure the ship. All along the harbour people worked on the ships, some making nets others moving around cargo. It was packed with merchant shops that lined alongside the road that led further into the city, the road was made of a white marble and seemingly looked like it hadn't been touched. There were blacksmiths, clothing merchants, jewellers and a stables closer to the turn off to the city, at the further side of the harbour was a massive storehouse for all the cargo arriving to be checked.

Markus slowly and carefully descended the gangplank, looking around him at the sheer beauty of the harbour, compared to the port at Hanuk this must've been the royalty of ports. Quickly he gained his bearing and searched down the road to see where to go, coming to the turn off that led into the city. Taking a deep breath he braced himself as he slowly moved towards his new life in the Republic of Telf.