Chapter 53

The prow of the nightingale cut through the small waves while the wind pushed it along the watery surface. Gael held fast to the ship's steering wheel with Al' Miraj asleep on his shoulder. The grizzled ship captain had grown used to the ball of fur, and no longer complained about its presence. Aurelia and Zinjo spent their days keeping peace among the crew.

At night they would dine with Gael and talk about the next leg of the journey. Zinjo and Aurelia were anxious to get to Lemuria to find the runes required to make the witch trap bottles. That night it was vegetable stew, again.

Zinjo blanched, "We need to hunt soon. I am not a caterpillar, I require something a little more substantial," he ate with a childish expression on his face.

"You're acting like a cub," Aurelia observed. Fierce hunger clawed her stomach and begged for something bloody and tender. "Although Zinjo speaks correctly, I could use something more than vegetables to eat."

Rough hands petted the horned rabbit, "Yeah, I agree the Al' Miraj refuses to touch anything green. He unrolled a map, "There is a small uninhabited island about a day's journey from here. There may be wildlife and at the very least birds and good fishing."

"How are you and your new companion getting along?" Zinjo asked as he tried to touch the creature. Gael pushed his hands away, "Let the fur ball sleep," He smiled, "He keeps me from getting lonely, and to be honest the crew sees him as our mascot." He swiped his hand across the air, "Al' Miraj trading and artifact recovery. Catchy huh?"

"Except we promised to take it home." Aurelia pinched the bridge of her nose.

Gael covered the ears of the Al' Miraj with a hand, "No, I've decided to keep him."

"Why are men, such children?" She growled and stormed out of the Captain's quarters. She leaned over the rail and watched the white shoals slap against the wooden ship. She turned and saw Al' Miraj's giant soulful eyes staring at her. "What do you want?"

The ebony-colored horn began to glow with silvery light. The lights swirled around the horn faster and faster and grew in size until a thick beam shot across the water. Aurelia watched the tiny beast levitate from the blast and then float back down to the polished wood.

Gael barrelled through the captain's door to the deck. His hands gripped his head and furrowed the striped bandana he wore. "What the hell is it doing? Every ship in the area is going to investigate the source of the disturbance. He grabbed the nearest sailor by the shirt and barked, "Plot a course to follow the light. I don't trust' much but if the little guy chose to use magic here, we would be foolish not to listen."

Zinjo strolled up to Aurelia, "We need to talk about Gael."

"You mean his unnatural attachment to Al' Miraj?"

"I didn't say it, you did," Zinjo held fast to the rail as the ship rocked back and forth while the ship changed course to follow the magical light.

Aurelia put her arms around Zinjo and held onto him, "I wonder why it chose to perform such powerful magic now?"

Zinjos hand wandered down her body and rested on her buttocks, "I have a feeling this is about Gael, the rodent never did such a thing with us."

"Don't you think your argument is a little thin?"

"I admit I have no evidence, but my gut tells me it has something to do with Gael."

Aurelia turned to speak at the Al' Miraj only to see it perched on Gael's shoulder once more. She watched Gael, at first she saw nothing until she noticed a slight glow to the onyx horn. "I still don't see it, but you see it." She kissed him, let's go talk to Gael and see where the beast is taking us."

Gael sent the last sailor off to work and faced the lion couple, "Sorry for the sudden change, of course, I don't think it's wise to refuse the request of a divine being. I viewed the light as a request."

Zinjo and Aurelia exchanged incredulous glances, "What about your attachment to the creature?"

"I like having it around. I tell it all my secrets, and who is it going to tell? No one that's who," Gael said with a pleased expression. "The men fear its reputation and listen better. I ask you what's not to love about the ball of fluff?"

Aurelia crossed her arms and sighed, "Do you even know where the light is taking us?"

Gael put a finger on his lip, "Ummm, no I have no idea where we are going, maybe I should figure that out." He motioned for the couple to follow him back to the captain's room. He pulled a corncob pipe from a drawer and put a generous pinch of tobacco. He lit the pipe until thick grey clouds billowed from it.

A scarred finger traced the course to Lemuria, "This is the route we were taking," he drew some instruments from a drawer and a small book. He did some measurements and then used a charcoal stick to circle and empty part of the map. "Looks like we are going into unknown territory." He seemed a little less sure of his decision to follow the light now. The salty dog stared at the floor after he spoke

"You okay captain?" Aurelia waved her hand in front of his face.

Gael shook his head, "Yeah sorry, I hate going into unknown territory. I've heard some pretty lurid stories from other captains who got lost at sea," the winsome smile returned to Gael's face, "Although sometimes it leads to amazing discoveries."

"I think we can trust the horned rodent, why would it send us off to die? We are its only means of returning home. I don't think it would jeopardize its safety" Zinjo looked skyward, a multitude of stars winked at them from afar.

"All we can do now is hope the little guy didn't lead us to our doom," Gael petted the divine creature with a smile.

***

Aurelia and Zinjo panted as they finished another intimate session. She never got tired of him cleaving her until she cried out in passion. A loud knock at the door interrupted their tender moment.

"We are coming up on a landmass, You two are on the landing party. The captain is overseeing this mission himself."

Zinjo looked at the door and back to Aurelia's naked body and made a grumpy face, "Are you ready to face the unknown?"

"With you, always," Aurelia said with a kiss.