21 Seagulls

ROUGH WAVES

“I still don’t know what you want me to do once we get there,” Dizan complained.

The two of them sat on the deck as the ship glided over calm and dark waters. The summer night had grown more peaceful, and the night birds flew in circles under the moonlight.

“It isn’t just monsters that live on the island where we’re going, Dizan.”

“But also pirates,” the musician added hastily.

“Not all of them are pirates. Those are just rumors the Barons spread, in the name of the king, to make the islands sound like awful places and make it clear that whoever doesn’t stand with Lothen, stands against it.”

Dizan gulped.

“What I’m saying is,” Mascardi went on, his voice growing more serious, “we’ll treat some of them by the book and others not, but we definitely need to win them over.”

Dizan seemed at a loss again. “How hard can that be, captain? We’ll sneak in during the night and…”

Mascardi interrupted him. “No, you got it wrong. There won’t be any battle.  We have to win them over to our side.” He leaned closer, even though there were only a few people on the deck at the time and they were unable to hear their whispers. “Why do you think there are only twenty-one men in this crew, Dizan?”

“Because Lord Criden couldn’t give us more soldiers?” It was obvious that the question hadn’t been filtered through enough consideration.

“Wrong. He offered me an entire company. An additional ship would be needed to carry them all, and he was gladly offering that as well.”

Dizan couldn’t believe it. “Then why?”

“Because these men wouldn’t be my men, Dizan. Do you understand? I need people who’ll enter the mouth of the wolf with me, without having anyone else over their heads, you understand?”

Dizan shook his head.

“We need a lot of soldiers to take back the islands, that’s for sure, but I’m not planning to give them back freely. If soldiers of the king or some baron had come with us, they would have planted the Lion banner on the first rock they would’ve found, and that place would have belonged to Lothen forever.”

“If that’s the case, what exactly are we doing?”

“Did you prepare the song as I told you?”

Dizan grimaced. “Yes, I wrote it. Simple and easy, just like you asked. If it’s good, only Theanivar knows.”

Mascardi laughed. “It doesn’t matter if it’s good.”

Dizan looked troubled again. “But that title, Mascardi… I don’t know. 21 Seagulls? Really?”

He could see the captain’s annoyance despite the dark.

“It is a fine title,” he declared firmly. “Listen now. When we arrive at the island, you’ll stay behind with the group at the camp while we are gone.”

Dizan liked that. He wouldn’t be joining the hunt. Whatever they’d encounter at the campsite, it would certainly be better than what the others would find in the woods and the mountains.

“You will be playing that song to whoever wants to listen. Every tavern and corner of that place. You will keep singing the lyrics until they become the truth in everyone’s head, you understand?”

Dizan nodded, reluctantly.

“You will have to be masterful, Dizan. You will have to be outstanding.”

“What’s that supposed to mean?” the bard complained.

“It means I didn’t take you with me on this journey due to your nonexistent battle techniques,” Mascardi teased him and Dizan smiled, a bit offended. “And you have to remember, they have to love this song and sing it even if they are… prejudiced towards us.”

Dizan didn’t understand. “Why would they be prejudiced?”

Mascardi turned and looked him in the eye. “I told you, Dizan. We won’t treat everyone by the book.”

***

The Ghost slipped inside Vario Darani’s room. Young Odet protested for this intrusion, scared for his life, but Basco explained these were the captain’s orders, and that if he didn’t get out of the way, he would haunt him in his sleep after he died. After that, the kid moved away, not knowing what he was afraid of the most.

The small cabin smelled of liquor, flesh, smoke, and all other scents one could find in an Enis brothel, in western Lothen. The girl slept next to the savage giant that had r***d her repeatedly. Basco, calm, woke her up, putting his hand over her mouth. The girl opened her eyes wide but didn’t make a sound. Basco gestured lazily at her to get up and follow him.

She rose, blood running on her thighs. Embarrassed, she could barely walk. Basco helped her. She clung to his arm so tightly, her fingernails nearly dug into his flesh. She followed him out of the room, more than willingly.

***

When they climbed on the deck, they saw Mascardi’s and Dizan’s silhouettes in the night. Their whispering was drowned out by the Ghost’s footsteps – the girl walked soundlessly, stumbling. The captain looked reluctant. Dizan, disturbed by the sight, hurried away without a word.

“A ship like this is no place for a girl like you, my dear.”

The captain’s voice was calm and soothing. The girl felt safe in his presence. Her eyes watered at once.

“I didn’t want to come here, my lord. Please, have mercy.”

She burst into tears, falling at Mascardi’s feet. He stroked her hair and looked the expressionless Basco straight in the eye. Then he gestured at her to stand up, and she did, coming face to face with the captain.

“I am sorry you got involved in this business. Unfortunately, Vario isn’t a man who asks for anyone’s permission. He always gets what he wants.”

The girl didn’t answer. Tears streamed down her cheeks, and she wiped at them with the back of her hand.

“What is your name?”

He raised her chin with his finger. Two brilliant eyes met his.

“Elia,” she answered, and the captain was relieved she didn’t offer her last name.

“My lord, I can’t go on like this,” she sobbed.

“No, you can’t,” Mascardi agreed.

His gaze scanned the dark horizon. Basco’s eyes never left him, as stern as a judge’s gavel. Reluctantly, Mascardi looked at him again and inwardly cursed the gods.

He put one hand on the girl’s shoulder. “Do you have faith, Elia?”

She nodded. “I believe in the g–” 

She never finished her sentence. Mascardi buried his dagger in her chest, swiftly and deep. The girl coughed up a stream of blood onto his shirt, creating a dark stain over where his own heart was.

In one sharp motion, he tossed her body to the hungry waves of the darkness around them. The girl fell like a rag doll, and with a splash, she was lost under the unfamiliar water.

Mascardi closed his eyes and took a deep breath. In his mind, there was only Vario now, and the wrath that would be unleashed upon the ship.

When he opened his eyes again, Basco finally looked away from him and departed, pleased.

***

Mascardi slept with his door double locked. Basco, sharing the room, stayed awake. The night glided away slowly and steadily like the ship on the water. When dark blue diluted the black, Basco gazed at the East through the porthole, wishing for the coming of the dawn.

First, there were a few thuds, like furniture being thrown from one end of the room to the other.

Mascardi shot upright; Basco nodded at him. After a moment came a cry of pain and agony.

He couldn’t wait any longer. Unlocking the door, he stepped out into the corridor, along with the other sailors.

Taking the turn to Vario’s room, he found Odet whimpering in a pool of blood, thrashing like fish out of water.

“Odet! Talk to me!”

With Basco’s help, they turned him on his back. His hand covered his right eye as an endless stream of blood flowed through his fingers. Mascardi pried the hand off and immediately averted his face. Odet’s right eye had been viciously destroyed by the deep cut of a blade.

“Bring Alaoso, now!” he bellowed, and from somewhere in the far end of the corridor, an “Aye, captain,” sounded, and then the healer’s name from many voices.

Mascardi didn’t ask Odet anything; he kept staring at the stairs that led up to the deck. The healer arrived in a moment and leaned over the young man, muttering.

“Let him do his job,” Mascardi ordered and stood up, surrounded by crew members that sought answers.

“Everyone! Grab your weapons,” he said quickly and snatched a trident that’d been mounted on the wooden wall as a decoration. In a few leaps, he was on the deck, searching for Vario Darani.

***

“Where is she?” the colossal man roared again, frightening a couple of sailors by waving his sword around. Mascardi regarded him like a wild beast. He pushed the trident forward, the pointy tips of the long weapon aimed at the man’s chest. Vario turned to the captain and marched towards him, heedless of the danger.

“Vario, I am warning you! Stay where you are, else every man here will attack you, and by Arkallis, you will fall, even if you take half of us down with you.”

Vario released a cry as he attacked Mascardi with his blade. The captain leaped abruptly to the left to avoid the blow and struck with his trident. It pierced through Vario’s thigh, but if the wound was deep, you couldn’t tell by the man’s reaction.

“Vario, stop!” Basco shouted, his curved blade pointed at the giant. More voices followed, and the man stood still, his nostrils flaring like a bull’s.

“What did you do to her?” he demanded.

“I killed her,” Mascardi admitted unabashedly.

Vario lunged again. Before he could reach his target though, Ginom’s whip struck his shoulder, coiling around it. He pulled at it and forced him to take a step. Vario looped his arm twice around the rope and pulled. The man flew in the air without the slightest resistance and sprawled face-down on the deck.

In the meantime, Mascardi shoved the trident towards the man’s throat.

“I will kill you, Vario, even if I don’t want to. And I don’t want to because we all need you! But if you want to die for a highborn w***e, then by the gods, I was wrong about you.”

Vario cried out again but hesitated.

“We have important work ahead of us, Vario. Adventure, monsters and riches await us. Only a fool would turn his back to the gods. Tell me. Are you a fool? Will you refuse the destiny the gods have in store for us?”

Vario’s breathing slowed, became more regular. His pupils returned to their normal size. His mouth had acquired an ugly grimace that would scare even a demon.

“I had to kill her because I didn’t want anything to distract you from our mission. I didn’t like it, but it had to be done.”

Vario seemed to calm down. Hatred and resentment replaced the blind rage, and the captain knew blissful sleep would be a thing of the past from now on.

“You should have asked me first,” the captain chastised him, removing the weapon from his throat and relaxing his posture. “On this ship, I am king, judge and executioner, Vario, you know the rules.”

Vario didn’t respond, but it was just as well for Mascardi. Around them, a circle of silent men had formed, who were scared to even breathe in case they further aggravated the situation.

“I want to kill something,” Vario roared, showing Mascardi that it was mostly his pride that had been wounded.

The captain smiled. “Soon and as many things as you like,” he promised.

Vario nodded and headed for the stairs. Odet stood there, with a bloody bandage wrapped around his dead eye. Terror was painted in the other one. The young warrior had never suffered such injuries before.

As Vario reached him, Odet’s bowels almost loosened, but he held on as if his life depended on it. When he stood over his face, Odet broke down and started crying. Vario came even closer. His deep voice sounded as if it was welling from an infernal place.

“From now on, you’ll always keep your one eye open when you guard something of mine.”

Odet sobbed and Vario went down the stairs to his cabin, laughing. As soon as the laughter faded away, Mascardi was able to take a deep breath again, and so did the rest of the crew.

***

“Did you kill her then?” old Karil asked with a dark expression as he filled two cups with rum.

Mascardi sat opposite him in the small cabin, his hair disheveled. Tiredness and worry had lined his face. He waved away the drink the old man offered.

“Don’t try that on me, captain. When I drink, you drink.”

Mascardi relented and accepted the drink, wetting his lips.

“You drink like the Lothenian girl you are,” he scoffed. Mascardi wasn’t in the mood for that now.

“Of course I killed her, that’s what I’ve been telling you.”

Karil nodded, satisfied, and gulped down his rum. “You did good. All daughters must die.”

Mascardi shuddered whenever the old man spoke like this, but it was another one of those things he had to put up with. He thought of one of his sons – Mario, the eldest. He was the only one who had left the estate to find his own way, barely fourteen years old back then. When he found Mascardi and asked to follow him, the captain had slapped him so hard, he’d broken half his teeth. “Consider this the first sample of the pirate life you’re seeking,” he’d told him. “Lesson one. Pirates have no teeth.”

And he’d left him lying in the dirt and never saw him again. When he talked with Karil, he regularly recalled such moments of his life.

“What did you see?” he asked.

The old man looked at him. “All daughters must die, you hear me?” he insisted.

“I hear you.”

“I’ll make sure you don’t forget.” He sat heavily on the chair across from the captain. “Damn mushrooms,” he mumbled. “The visions are becoming more and more demanding, damn the Goddess’s Veil.”

Mascardi waited.

Karil drew out a big, old card from his coat and tossed it on the table towards Mascardi. The worn card showed two lovers entangled like snakes. The old colors had faded into a suspicion of red, yellow and grey.

“You showed me this card the other day, Karil,” he reminded him.

“The Lovers.”

Mascardi nodded.

“This was Vario’s,” he pointed with his finger, “as I told you.”

“I remember. That’s why I did what I did. I do listen to what you say, old man.”

Karil inclined his head, satisfied. “And you must keep on listening to me, captain.” He leaned over the table, as if getting to the most important part of the story. When old Karil wanted something from Mascardi, he assumed the round-eyed, childlike expression he so rarely exhibited. “That’s why we must find her.”

“Damn you, Karil!” the captain shot up to his feet, cursing. “How many times do I have to tell you? We will find her, I promised.” By his frantic motions, it was obvious that exhaustion had taken a toll on him. Karil didn’t seem to mind his outburst.

“I saw her in a vision again, you fool,” he said darkly. His solemn eyes sparkled, and a sardonic smile formed on his bearded face. “She’s there on the cliffs, singing, drawing men to the edge, leading them to the rocks with a single note. One by one they fall into Revedon’s arms and crash like sickly birds with ruined wings. Her voice is a spider’s web – it pierces through mind, flesh and bone and leaves the soul wandering naked and weak-willed in the Astral World, searching in vain for the gate that leads to the emerald waters of the Underworld! Mascardi, by the Mother and the Daughter, we have to find her!”

Mascardi shivered. He gulped down his drink; his body didn’t agree with the rum. He massaged his temples with his fingertips.

“You have my word, Karil. I know this is why you joined us. I promised we will find her, and you promised to tell me everything you see.”

“And so it shall be done,” Karil added.

“And so it shall be done,” Mascardi echoed.

Then, he finished his drink, slammed the cup on the table, nodded at Karil, and left the cabin.

***

Morning arrived fast. The sun climbed higher in the blue sky and the ship continued traveling on the lonely waters, undeterred by the turmoil inside it. Mascardi hadn’t slept at all the night before. Now, he was on the deck again, talking with Alaoso. The healer had also had a difficult night, taking care of Odet both physically and mentally.

“Bring him here,” Mascardi ordered with a hoarse, barely audible voice as he shielded his eyes from the relentless sun.

Alaoso frowned. “He’s asleep, captain. He’s running a fever. His eye is completely destroyed, and the risk of infection is still high.”

“I won’t say it again, Alaoso. Bring him here.”

Alaoso couldn’t believe this. He paled at this unprofessional request, but in the end, he complied. A few moments later, Odet climbed the stairs up to the deck with Alaoso’s help, looking like a wounded animal. A disgusting crust of dried blood and pus had formed on the bandage and spilled down his face like a revolting waterfall. Stumbling, with the healer’s aid, he stood in front of the captain.

“Leave us, Alaoso.”

The healer hurried away.

“C- Captain?” The fever was making it difficult for him to speak.

“Where is your bow, Odet?”

His good eye bulged with surprise. “What?”

“I asked, where is your bow?”

For a moment, the young man’s simmering anger seemed to give him strength. Then he coughed and almost vomited as the pain racked his body, overwhelming him with dizziness.

“D- Downstairs, captain.”

“Go get it then,” Mascardi answered quietly, leaving Odet in a sea of doubt.

The young man’s mouth trembled as he tried to grasp the inconceivable order. After a while, he obeyed, and retreated to his cabin to fetch his bow.

A little while later, he returned. Mascardi had been wondering if he would succeed in that, but the young man had, using his long bow as a walking stick.

The anger had crystallized on Odet’s face; he huffed in pain and exhaustion. “How can you let him go unpunished? How can you allow him to do such things to me?”

Mascardi’s expression instantly turned dark and hard. “Such things?” he inquired wryly. “What things, Odet?”

Odet was close to tears. “He… He…” No more words came.

“Listen to me, kid. Here, we are all seamen, and we live by the laws of the sea. Do you know what that means?”

Odet didn’t move.

“I guess you don’t. Each one’s worth is measured by what he can do. Vario can do a lot. He’s the best killer I have ever seen, and for that, he is worth a lot, do you understand?”

Odet couldn’t wrap his head around Mascardi’s words. In his mind, a little something called justice meddled with things.

“What is your worth?” the captain asked, catching him off guard.

“What?” Odet stammered.

“What is your worth? For example, Vario’s girl had no worth.”

He let his words sink in. Odet paled.

“I- I am a good archer.”

“You were a good archer,” Mascardi corrected him.

Odet took two steps back, defensively.

“What I would like to know, Odet, is whether behind the whining and the fear, you still have some kind of worth.”

Odet clenched his teeth. He could sense the threat and now regarded Mascardi as if he were a wolf. How could he talk to him like that? He had loyally served him. He knew him since he was a child; Mascardi was like a father to him.

It took him a moment to remember the rumors about Mascardi and his children and whether or not he loved them.

After considering his current position carefully, he tried to regain his composure.

“It wasn’t the eye I use for aiming,” he stated.

“What?”

“I didn’t lose my good eye, captain,” Odet rephrased. “I aim with the other.”

“Really?” he asked, slightly sarcastic.

“On my word, captain. This was the one I was shutting when I aimed, you understand?”

Mascardi smiled. He leaned over and pointed at the mast about twenty feet away. “Show me.”

Odet swallowed. He looked at the mast with his one eye and started trembling. Then his hand trailed the familiar bow string; he touched the arrow on it and felt the goose feathers caressing his two fingers.

“See, like this,” he said and instinctively tried to close his maimed eye, out of habit. “Ah!” he groaned in pain as the motion invited a new cascade of blood and pus. Dizzy, he almost vomited and collapsed, but he managed to hold on. Sweating like a horse, he assumed an archer’s stance. He looked at the mast for a moment, then released the arrow and watched it fly through the morning air, until it pierced through the middle of the wooden mast with a satisfying sound.

Odet allowed himself a half smile and glanced at Mascardi. Visibly pleased, the captain returned the smile and clapped his hands.

“Excellent. Odet the One-Eyed Archer, then. That, kid, is the kind of name that is forever remembered in the songs!” He patted his shoulder in approval. “Now go get some rest,” he said and left.

Odet took a deep breath, pleased. It was way too soon to feel good, but he was surprised by the sense of satisfaction and validation that nested inside him. Before he could get too happy about it, he passed out.

***

The next days went by peacefully. Mascardi was able to sleep again, Vario laughed along with the other sailors and played dice with them on the deck, Odet was getting used to his impaired vision and Basco surveyed the ship and the crew. He spoke to Dizan, who was preparing the songs that Mascardi had ordered for when they reached the islands.

“They’re just songs,” he confessed one day. “Don’t expect a masterpiece.”

“People don’t remember masterpieces, Dizan, because they don’t understand them. Mascardi wants people to understand,” he assured him, and the bard surrendered himself to his creative impulses again.

One afternoon, when the sun sank slowly over the sea’s veil, the seagulls circled over the main sail, a sure sign they had found dry land. Soon, Loriax appeared before them, showing its teeth from early on.