Chapter 17:

4 Days After Spring’s Beginning

263 Days After The Ra’tok Attack Amia Village

Traezar Empire, Trade City Coskana

I wake up quickly, rolling over and reaching for my spear, ready to defend myself from the beast that is attacking me.

Then I fall off my bed and reality comes crashing back down.

There are some deep chuckles and the floorboards creak under a great weight.

I groan and get to my feet, looking at the asper. Kamar had tapped me on the shoulder to wake me up and I had thought I was back in The Jungle.

Looking at him, and in sleepy disdain, I ask, “What is it?”

He smiles, revealing his large, blocky and surprisingly white teeth. “I have found us a way to get to Osmun.”

Blinking the tiredness out of my eyes, I look at him in surprise, “You found one?”

Kamar nods, “They will leave when the sun reaches its zenith, which means we have an hour or so.”

I need to get supplies and a new weapon. I sit on my bed and quickly pull my boots on. Looking at Kamar, I ask, “Where is the caravan headed?”

He chuckles, and only says, “A near direct route to Osmun.”

That’s not helpful at all.

Getting up, I grab my bag and re-sheath my dagger. Stretching I walk to the door, looking over my shoulder at the asper, “I’m going to get supplies.”

The four armed gorilla lumbers behind me, grabbing up his giant pack. “Not without me.”

I sigh, and don’t say anything else. Walking out of our room’s door, I enter the first floor of the inn.

I stop to hand the innkeeper our key and then leave. Kamar follows behind me, ducking to fit through the door.

“Where are you going?” He asks as we exit onto the bustling street.

I look around, “I need to find someplace that sells weapons, and get some travel supplies.”

The asper nods and starters moving down the street to my left. I follow behind him, still dazzled by the sheer variety of people in Coskana. I watch a cart, pulled by what looks like some kind of large bird that walks on two legs, trundle through the street and turn out of sight.

My thoughts go back to the strange plant that is living on, for lack of a better word, world. I had watched it, and it’s growth seems accelerated quite a bit. I fed it a little more of my Gray katra water, and it had grown to about my shin, a large bushel of leaves crowning it.

The roots of the plant had spread out far wider than I thought they would, at least several feet from the plant, and the same downwards.

I am taken out of my thoughts as Kamar stops and points at a sign with a sword, hammer and anvil. “This is a weaponsmith who will give you a fair deal. Or so I have heard from the inn keeper.”

I nod and walk up the wooden steps and into the shop. A small bell tinkles as I enter, Kamar ducks through the doorway behind me.

I am greeted by a large room, weapons hung on wracks around the room. Others are displayed in cases or in barrels.

There is a desk in the back, next to a door. A man with a graying beard walks out, his face smudged with charcoal. His face is weathered, his beard short, and his thick leather apron has charing marks.

“Good day! How may I help…” He stops to look up at Kamar behind me, faltering for a second. “...you?”

Kamar is kind of intimidating.

Looking at the weaponsmith, I say, “I need a spear, preferably one under a zeni.”

The man nods, taking it in step. He walks over to a barrel bristling with polearms. Grabbing a spear, he twirls it and holds out the shaft towards me. “This is one of my cheaper weapons.”

I take it from him, stepping into an open area of the shop. Slashing up, then to the side and twirling it, I hum, thinking. “The balance is okay, but do you have anything a bit more sturdy and shorter?”

This one is a little too long.

My last spear was nicer. I remember the masterpiece that was inscribed with sharpness and durability. I never got to test the Katra effect as well.

I hand the spear back the the weaponsmith and he places it back in the barrel. Moving over, he takes a spear off the wrack on the right wall.

The spear is made of a light wood, a long spear head adorns it’s top. The bottom is wrapped in a white cloth, so that it doesn’t get worn down.

I take it from him and the spear reaches up to my elbow. A short spear, close in length to my original one.

Giving it a few test swings, I nod. This should do.

“What’s the shaft made of?” I ask him.

“Iron Wood, flexible but still strong enough to be hard to break.”

Turning to the weaponsmith, I ask, “How much?”

“5 silver dragoons and 10 sparks.”

I resist the urge to react to the price. Weapons aren’t cheap, are they?

Following the man, who stays clear of Kamar who is studying a hammer, I place the spear on the counter as he gets behind it.

Pulling out my coin pouch, I inspect the state of it. I had been able to scrounge some money up in Tarna, giving me a total of 2 zeni, 7 dragoons and 19 sparks. It wasn’t a fortune and I haven’t been spending much of it.

Plucking out the 5 dragoons and 10 sparks, I count them out on the counter. The weaponsmith sweeps them up, placing them in a pocket of his apron. He writes down the purchase on a ledger, asking, “Name?”

“Kardin Amia.” I say simply.

The man nods and writes my name down on the ledger. He slides it back under the counter and says, “All done. Anything else I can help you with? Maybe something for your… err.”

I look over my shoulder at Kamar, “Friend.”

“For your friend?”

Kamar looks up, he shakes his head and puts the war hammer he was inspecting back onto the wall. “No, I am good.”

Grabbing the spear, I follow Kamar out of the shop and back onto the busy street. The asper points further down the street, “We can find a market further down the street. It would be a good place to get supplies.”

I nod and follow him.

I’m going to need to find a way to get more money.

We come into a large square, stalls setup in disordley rows. Merchants shout out their wares, boasting about them.

A stall catches my eye. A small four posted tent is put up around it, with the front open.

Stopping at the stall, which is selling exotic animals, I look at the creatures in cages. I inspect one of them, it looks like a blue scaled lizard with a long neck. Large butterfly like wings sprout from it’s back. The creature is the size of a cat, and it look at me angrily through the bars of its cage.

I look at the tag on the cage; Faerie Dragon.

Moving on from it, I stop to look at a jar. A small, fuzzy blue light floats in the center. It lets out small chirping sounds, floating slowly around the jar. The light is mesmerizing, but Kamar puts one of his hands on my shoulder.

He rumbles, “Don’t stare at it too long. It’s a Will o’ Wisp, it’ll hypnotize you.”

I blink, coming out of the trance. My head feels light and it takes me a second to recover. “Thanks.”

What a strange creature. I avert my eyes from it and go a little deeper into the stall, past a small shelf lined with various cages. A flash catches my eye and I stop to look at a cage with particular thick bars.

A small four legged scorpion sits in it. But this scorpion is made of green crystal, with beady red eyes. The thing clacks it’s mantables at me.

The tag says; Crysmal, Earth aspect.

Looking closely, I can see through the crystal, which reveals its organs. I can see the heart pumping a dark green blood throughout the crystal body. Creepy.

I browse the shop for a little bit more, looking at all the strange creatures. I leave shortly after.

Walking through the market, Kamar and I grab various dried foods that should last a long while.

Once we are done, I ask the asper, “Alright, I think I have everything I need. You?”

He nods his large head. His fur is even more eye catching when the sun is out, and he towers over everyone in the market. He says, “I don’t need anything else. Follow me, our ride’s close to leaving probably.”

I catch up to his side and ask him, “What kind of ride are we getting?”

He smirks, which is strange on his gorilla like face, “You’ll have to wait and see. I promise it is the best we can get.”

That’s not helpful at all.

We walk through the streets of Coskana, heading into the upper district. We move down towards the docks. Was he able to get us a ship towards Osmun?

The docks are a bustling place, loud shouts from formen and general chatter fill the air. Men move back and forth, loading crates and unloading them onto ships. A cart filled with beer kegs cuts through the crowd.

I follow Kamar deep into the ports, where we start walking on a boardwalk. It is crusted with seagal poop and the waves lap at the sea weed covered posts that hold it up.

The air stinks of fish and sweat.

The asper stops before a small ship. It is made of a dark wood, and it is slender. Built for speed. The side has the name painted on it in fancy lettering; The Sky Fisher.

Kamar is smiling, “This is a merchant ship that is headed towards Osmund. I was able to acquire us passage.”

I raise an eyebrow, impressed. I’ve never been on a ship before, this’ll be fun!

A shout pierces through the din of the port and I turn to see a man standing at the top of the plank leading up to the ship.

He wears a big hat, a drooping red feather sticking out of it. His black beard reaches down to his stomach, twisted into various knots. He has bright blue eyes and there is a gold loop attached to his ear.

The man jumps down the plank, taking a few hops towards us. He stops and I am able to see he is wearing a loose fitting white shirt, brown pants and a thick long tailed coat.

He grins, revealing a silver tooth, looking at Kamar, “Ho! Asper, I assume this is the friend you were talking about?”

Kamar nods, patting me on the back, “Yes. This is Kardin Amia.”

The man pulls off his hat a gives a shallow bow, holding the hat to his chest. “Corazon Leon at your service. I am the captain of this here fine vessel.”

I bow to him back, holding my spear in the crook of my arm, “This one is thankful for giving him passage.”

Corazon laughs, fixing his hat on his head. “You don’t haf’ to be formal with me. I ain’t a stickler for that kind of stuff. Now, shall we?”

He holds out his hand, towards the ship.

I walk up the plank, Kamar having to do it far more carefully due to his size. The board bend slightly at his weight when he makes it half way, but it doesn’t break.

Once I land on the deck of the ship, it takes me a second to find my balance. The ship is rocking on the waves and it feels strange. This is weird.

The ship has two masts, one bigger and another smaller. Right now they are currently closed, but there are sailors moving up and down the riggings.

A upraised platform sits at the back of the ship, where the wheel crowns the top. There is a strange set of controls next to it, levers sticking out of it. There are stairs leading further down into the ship.

Two large trapdoors sit in between the masts, closed currently, but I would guess that is where most of the cargo is stored.

Corazon spins with his arms open, “You got here in the nick of time, for we were about to leave.”

The captain hops up the stairs to the ship wheel, quickly manning it.

A pair of crewmen pull up the plank that allowed people to get onto the ship. Then they hustle off quickly.

I look at the ship in wonder. This thing is cool!

Kamar smiles, “You haven’t been on a ship before?”

I shake my head, not seeing the harm in being honest.

He just grins wider.

Corazon is shouting commands at the top of his lungs, ordering the crew around. The sails drop and they quickly catch the breeze.

The ship lurches, pulling away from the docks.

I stumble, holding onto some nearby rigging to balance myself. Wow!

Kamar doesn’t even flinch when the ship starts up, but he does grab onto the rigging next to me.

I look at the undulating waters and the ship cuts through them and out of the port.

Corazon has a wide grin on his face, his silver tooth flashing in the sun. He lines the ship up with the flow the White Channel, the river that runs along the side of Coskana and towards the sea.

Confused, I say, “We’re going the wrong way.”

The asper just smiles, giving a reassuring nod of his head.

The captain shouts, twirling a hand above his head. “Get ready boys!”

What?

The sailors up at the top of the sails pull them up, folding them.

Why are they doing that? Is it because of the White Channels current?

The sailors quickly climb down from the masts by the rigging. Some cling to the ropes, shouting confirmation.

Corazon starts flicking the levers, a deep hum resonates from within the bowels of the ship. I can feel it through my boots.

What the…?

Then the ship lurches, and I nearly lose my balance. Gripping onto the rigging I look at Corazon who is laughing happily. The captain flicks another lever and air starts shimmering around the ship.

Is that a shield of Air aspect katra?

I look over the side of the ship and blanche. It is slowly rising above the waves, Cloud aspect katra engulfing its hull.

“No way…” I mutter.

The Sky Fisher quickly rises into the air, trailing wisps of Cloud katra.

Corazon laughs, looking at me. He flashes his grin, the silver tooth glinting, “Welcome aboard my Airship, The Sky Fisher!”