Magic, Pirates, and The Woods

Chapter 6 : Dolmiatas

Two large ships hovered in the air side by side. The amber colored Emerie, and an ashen gray ship known as the Dolmiatas. It was a rare occurrence that two ships from The Woods would meet. There are currently only three in existence and presently the first two were making contact.

A slender woman with light brown hair and a circlet of emerald green jewels waited patiently on the second ship. Her hands loosely clasped in front of her, she seemed statuesque in her ivory robes. The air around her seemed to be still as she watched the magic of the two ships react to each other.

On the opposite ship, Fin, Kalista, and the three soldiers watched in amazement as amber vines began to outreach toward ashen grey branches. The trees in each ship stretched out to form an intricately woven bridge that would ensure a much safer passage than the plank that had been procured by Fin's team.

Kalista made a move to step forward, and Fin immediately cleared his throat. She stopped and reached her hand toward him. Without hesitation, he clasped her hand in his and they moved to cross together.

"May the sun shine brightly," the woman said in a formal tone.

"May your leaves stay forever green." Answered both Kalista and Fin in unison. Both bowed their heads in respect of the woman that stood before them.

"San Da, it is a pleasure to be aboard your exquisite ship. We haven't been able to grace its deck since it was a mere sapling," Fin said in his charming voice. "While we would love to request a tour, I fear that time is of the essence considering the sensitive nature of Intel we recently acquired." He continued. His hand now resting on his abdomen, he bowed slightly before standing and gesturing forward. "Please, let us proceed."

Kalista started to roll her eyes before stopping the gesture. San Da quirked an eyebrow at Fin's nonchalant tone and informal nature towards her. "Yes, please follow me to the upper cabin." She said as she strode toward a small structure at the tail end of the ship.

Everyone walked in silence as they followed the priestess to the meeting room. Kalista looked down and noticed that, unlike on the Emerie, the floor here was covered in dark green moss. It was a species native to the woods, and she could only assume it had also taken root during the construction of the vessel.

As they ventured further back on the ship they passed the main trunk of the ship's tree. Surrounding it sat small benches and a golden dais directly in front of it. Several small offerings could be seen, and a few monks occupied the benches in prayer.

San Da noticed the stares and spoke with smugness in her voice.

"Everyone here must participate in daily prayers. You see while your ship depends on one, and belongs to only you, Captain Fin. Our ship depends on many and belongs to us all."

Fin scoffed at her explanation before coughing in an attempt to cover it up. Kalista scowled at his callous disrespect. How could he not appreciate the different approach they had taken? He was always so against anyone infusing their magic into the Emerie that it was borderline paranoia. The ship was his to command. But he simply did not have enough magic to give. He was a warrior and relied on brute strength. Hence, the reason they worked so well together. Kalista was his opposite, she was strong in the way of magic. She had once trained as his healer when they were but younglings exploring the far reaches of their home island.

Cecile, who caught the disapproving look, blanched at Kalista’s disrespect towards Fin. Attempting to ease the awkward situation, she asked an innocent question.

"If you don't mind, would you tell us? How long using this different technique did it take before the tree reached maturity?"

All eyes shifted now to Cecile, and then back to San Da for her answer.

As her face tilted upwards, she brought her hand to her chin and a pensive expression now replaced the cold stare.

"I would say it took us four years and seven months before the sorcerer deemed us strong enough to depart."

The party held looks of awe at this. All except Fin, whose forehead seemed to crease and his mouth twitching into a sneer.

"While that is considerably less time than it took me, we were after all the first ship to be built and depart. So, it can be assumed that there would be some learning curve to our advancement." He proclaimed in an irate tone.

Again, San Da stared at him, her face setting back to its normal stoic expression. Deciding that she would not give in to what she presumed was the set up for 'who did it best', she turned her back on them and continued toward the small structure.