Sekali, "The Sister City"
Chapter 58
As the wind filled the Harbringer’s sails, the crew stood still as stone, staying on the lookout for more trouble until their captain sheathed her blade. Onward the great ship traveled through the waters, all the while the captain staring at the body of the dredgeworm. Finyat retrieved the dart, ever so cautiously removing it from the worm’s neck, and even more carefully placing it back into a very small leather pouch with a fold-over flap. He then placed the leather pouch into a small, hand-sized, hard case, placing the hard case into another leather pouch. Then he placed it into a leather bag with a pull string. He tucked it away within a hidden pocket in his tunic. The captain watched him curiously as a look of respect crossed her face.
“That is strong poison, Finyat. May I ask what type it is?”
He turned to her and smiled, “Toxin, from the Toxin Cactus. The thorns that I removed from the cactus, within the Crystal Desert in the Southern parts of the Zurkel Mainland, are most deadly, milady.”
She nodded, making a mental note of it.
“Well, had I known you had such, I would never have let you on my ship. But I am grateful for what you did. Had a single drop of the dredgeworm’s blood fallen into those waters, we could very well have died last night.” She embraced Finyat.
“I owe you much for what you did. I owe all three of you. Thank you.”
Finyat smiled and embraced her in return, not displeased with the physical contact, for she was very fair to him. After they parted, Finyat began whistling merrily and walked away, to which the captain smiled with a twinkle in her slanted eyes.
Uther had to cut the dredgeworm open to retrieve his axe, and had no problems doing it. But he did grumble and curse the worm and all its ancestors, and then its posterity, should it have left eggs at the bottom of The Great Deep. As he pulled his axe free from the worm’s carcass he growled in triumph and cleaned it.
“My axe!” was all he said, and kicked the dredgeworm.
Sekali watched Uther from a distance and decided he would never take kohakk from him again. He thought on what they were about to get into as he turned and watched the ship cutting steadily through the water, wondering if it would be easier to fight all the dredgeworms in The Great Deep, or finish their mission.
That day, in the evening, the captain announced they were back on course according to the stars and her charts. Then she ordered the dredgeworm’s carcass thrown into the sea.
“It is safe to dispose of this thing now; let’s get rid of it. It stinks.” Before doing so, she commanded all its teeth cut lose and saved in a chest, which she and one other of her crew brought out from her cabin.
“Sekali, Uther, Finyat, come over here!” She called loudly.
As soon as they were gathered, she offered them each equal shares.
“These teeth fetch a very good price on the Veleighen market. They are crafted into weapons, which only the most skilled can craft, for these types of weapons are difficult to make. The Veleighen pay handsomely for them.”
Finyat brightened up. “What could I get for one?”
She laughed, “I knew you would be the first to speak up. I believe one average-sized tooth can bring about one hundred black-gold pieces.”
A whistle escaped Finyat’s lips as he looked at the tooth. “I’m in, thank you.”
Uther nodded in approval, then shook his head. “Maybe we should go kill them all and get rich.”
At first she looked at Uther blankly, then she could not hold in a wry smile. She nodded and picked up a large tooth and studied it closely.
“Uther, if you killed them all, you could no doubt purchase a city and port, and a fleet of your own ships. But I must decline; maybe another day we will try,” she jested.
Uther did not catch the joke and nodded.
“We have some things to do first. But after that I would like to hunt them. I will contact you, if I can find you.”
She raised an eyebrow, a small grin spreading on her thin lips as she began to ponder such an idea. Then she shuddered and said, “Uther, come to me one day in the future; we will make the necessary preparations for a future hunt. It could be quite profitable.”
Sekali wanted nothing to do with such an adventure. He wanted off this wasteland of water badly, never to return to it. But he liked the idea of the teeth, and agreed to his share.
Another small chest was brought out and bundles of dredgeworm fangs were divided equally into piles. There were exactly fifty fangs, leaving two remaining that they cast lots for. Finyat and Sekali received one extra fang each. Sekali gave his to the captain in trade for three smaller chests to put each of their shares into. In return, she traded Sekali the three chests and her smallest fang for his larger one.
The chests were packed and placed in their quarters, the body of the dredgeworm thrown into the sea and the area cleaned up by her zealous crew. The captain helped with everything.
They sailed northward, now back on course, a good strong wind driving at the sails of the Harbringer.
As Sekali rested, kneeling at the front of the ship, his thoughts turned to a forest far behind him, haunting him deep within his heart. For within that forest was a creature who had softened his life, even in the process of sending him to war, making everything bearable. Closing his eyes wearily, he did something he’d not done voluntary for years. Sekali fell into deep meditation, letting himself slip voluntarily into blessed slumber.