The Elderien Chronicles

The Captain

Alastair closed his eyes and opened his ears. He let them spread far and wide, sensing the ripples that pulled on the river, the tails of the fishes as they swam towards their foods, then to the river bank where the mages he had sent out of the river were gasping and regaining their strength.

One of them suddenly carried a curious look, like he was hearing something, and then, the Mage looked at him and Alastair's eyes opened.

He had been right. The mages were from the palace.

He needed to warm Miranda but he was in no position to do so at that state. Invading someone's dream took a lot of energy if the mage had no natural affinity for Dreamscaping.

He did not have that affinity, he did not have any natural affinity to be precise. He just learned every and any form of magic.

The rest of the night proceeded that way but when morning came, they were already at Rheina's port.

He'd dosed off for a moment and woke up when the captain yelled at his crew to "hurry the fuck up".

Cara stepped outside, although, from the look on her face, she didn't get enough sleep. Alastair and Cara thanked the captain and they set out into the city of Rheina.

Rheina was one of the few independent cities in the world. Those cities decided to make themselves sovereign by convincing the king that they were able and capable of protecting themselves without having to pay homage.

After being granted permission, the governor of the city becomes its sovereign head alone.

Rheina did something of such with Elderien. But there is a catch, the kingdom will never accept them back should they decide to change their mind.

Rheina, however, had managed to become very industrious, making the best wine one could ever taste in that part of the world.

They began trading with other neighboring cities and eventually, even the capital itself recognized how good their wine tasted, and since most of the people in the capital were wealthy families who could spend a week partying, The capital and Rheina became best of customers.

"This place is huge," Cara commented as they walked through the marketplace.

Her eyes were picking up beautiful things and she was about to walk off to buy something when Alastair stopped her, causing her to bump into a young man in the process.

"Keep your money in your bag and save it for when you will need it. Or, someone might just take it from you here." He told her.

She puffed.

"Like I wouldn't know if my money was being stolen from me. Have you forgotten who I was once?"

"I have not..." Alastair said and grabbed the young man that had bumped into Cara.

He gave him the look and the young man quickly returned the money bag he had stolen from her.

Cara gasped as she roamed her hands through her pocket, realizing her money was no longer there.

"... but it seems like you have lost your touch."

She scoffed as he handed over the money to her.

"This is not Elderien. The people here are crafty and they are cunning. It will be in your best interest not to fall prey to their schemes."

He slowly said to her but she rolled her eyes.

"Simply because I slopped once does not mean I will do that again. I got carried away and you don't have to be so grumpy about it."

"I am trying to keep you safe here."

"Yeah, I know. Whatever. How are we going to find this mystery captain of yours anyway?"

Alastair took a look around when she asked.

No one in the port looked like someone he could trust. But then his eyes found a bar and thought that would be a good place to start.

Gossips about strange things and strange people often flew around In bars and he knew it.

He began to walk towards the bar and Cara slowly followed behind him. He kept an eye on her, having the feeling that she would run off. When they got to the bar, he took a moment to look at the few people inside before he headed toward the bartender.

She smiled at him, obviously interested in doing a lot more other things than just serving him drinks.

"To what do we owe the pleasure of having a handsome man such as yourself grace this bar today? And it's early in the morning, you want to begin your day with alcohol?"

She asked, pouring him a drink. She sent flirtatious looks and he picked up the signals, but he was not in the mood for such Things.

"I am looking for someone, do you think you can help?" He asked her, taking the cup from her hand.

"You both look like strangers. So what's the story? Her mother sent you out of the house telling you to take your daughter along?"

She asked again and Alastair laughed. He had to, it was all a game. She was nosy and needed to be silenced.

"It's a bit more complicated than that. But, back to my question. Do you think you can help?"

"Depends on who you are looking for. I know a lot of folks though. Maybe I just might be able to help you...for the right price."

"And what could that be?" He asked, arching a brow. She slowly bit her lower lip and he understood what she was talking about. Was she so desperate?

"Tell me what I need to know and I will give you what you want. Deal?"

"Deal."

"Do you know the sailor who 'dances with the sun?'"

Alastair asked and her eyes suddenly lit up. She took a step back from behind the counter, gazing at him with suspicion.

She was visibly shaken and Alastair could only wonder why that was.

"Where did you hear that name," she asked him.

"Do you know him? Do you know where he is?"

"You need to leave, now. Both of you. I do not want any trouble. Please leave."

"I do not understand. If you know where he is, you can just tell me..."

"Just go!" She yelled at him and he nodded.

There was something about that sailor which scared the woman, something dark and dangerous. He was not a mind reader and invading her memories would mean he needed to touch her. But she had already retreated and was not ready for any form of intimacy anymore.

But then, the door opened and a man walked inside, and at that moment, Alastair had a very weird feeling about him.

Even Cara appeared to feel what he was feeling.

Who is he? Alastair found himself asking.