Advent of Eternity - Chapter 113 (Patreon)

Best interests or not, Maud knew how to navigate. After nearly scaring the soul out of Stix and Maya upon exiting the cabin, the skeleton strode straight over to Cyll. Within minutes, both he and Maya were scratching their heads in embarrassment as Maud redirected the Withered Rose.

Knell glanced over the map himself, but he was no navigator. It certainly looked as if they were headed in the right direction now, and there was no reason for Maud to betray them yet. He returned to his quarters, satisfied that they wouldn’t lose any more time on mistaken trips.

The next several days passed without disturbance. Knell mostly remained within his cabin and meditated. His crew busied themselves by training. Maya was getting better at fighting with a missing arm, but she was still a far cry from where she’d once been.

As time went on, the feathers on the raven that Knell had saved started to regain some of their luster. The large bird started to move around, though it mostly stuck the area around its cage. It continued to watch Knell with a wary eye, though the steady supply of jerky that Knell fed it seemed to placate it.

At one point, Maya tried to enter the cabin to ask Knell a question. The raven flew at her, screeching in fury and batting at her head with its large wings. To Knell’s great amusement, she’d thrown herself back as if a demon were nipping at her heels.

The raven had quite enjoyed that, as it spent the rest of the day strutting around like it had just felled a great foe. Cyll had enjoyed it even more and had taken to making bird noises at her when the fancy struck.

Several days into the second week of travel, the raven pecked at the door of the cabin. Knell’s eyes cracked open, and he rose from his seated position, limping over and opening the door for the bird.

It had proven itself smarter than Knell had expected. He suspected that it had been trained at some point before, because it pecked on the door whenever it needed to void its bowels. But, today, instead of fluttering over to the edge of the ship, the raven just looked up at Knell.

“What?”

It clacked its beak. Knell stepped outside, raising a hand to block the bright sunlight as it beat down overhead. The raven fluttered up to his shoulder and alighted upon his shoulder piece. Knell dug through his pockets and offered it a strip of jerky, but the raven turned its head away.

“I’m telling you that thing has anger issues,” Maya said, finishing a blade form. She lowered her sword and leaned against one of the masts as she caught her breath. “I’ve seen it glaring at me every time I pass the cabin window.”

The raven clacked in her direction and Maya grimaced. “If I didn’t know better, I’d think it could understand me.”

“It very well might be able to,” Knell said. “Ravens are clever birds.”

“That’s the last thing we need. An intelligent bird with a vendetta.”

“What makes you think it’s got a vendetta against you?” Knell asked. He scratched the back of the raven’s head with a curled finger and it cooed. “Perhaps your face just irritates it.”

Cyll cackled. He swung over the railing above the cabin and landed on the deck beside Knell with a thud. Straightening to his full height, he offered the raven a small piece of jerky. It squinted at him, then pecked the piece from his fingers – taking a small chunk of Cyll’s flesh with it. He didn’t even flinch, and the wound was sealed over before any of them could even blink.

“Aw. It likes me,” Cyll said. “See?”

“That is not the word I would use.” Maya sheathed her sword and walked over to join them, though she positioned herself on Knell’s left to keep him between her and the raven. “Have you even given it a name?”

“A name? No.”

“Why not? If you’re going to keep it, we can’t just keep calling it a bird.”

“She’s got a point,” Cyll said, rubbing his chin. “How about Frederick?”

The raven turned a baleful eye on Cyll.

“I don’t think it’s a Frederick,” Kell said.

“Hatred?” Maya offered.

“Too on the nose. How about John?” Knell offered.The raven squinted at Knell. He grimaced. “Okay. Not John.”

“What about Coal?” Stix called down from the crow’s nest. “It kind of looks like a lump of one from up here.”

The raven inclined its head. They all stared at it. And, thus, the raven became known as Coal. It never did identify exactly what had made it want to go outside, and made Knell open the door just an hour later after he had returned to his room to meditate.

Knell tried convincing Coal to stay outside on the deck so he could meditate in peace, but the bird would have none of it. The moment he shut the door without letting him in, Coal’s beak thudded against the wood like miniature cannon fire until Knell opened it once more.

In that manner, the next several days of sailing passed. Stix spotted land in the distance in the early morning and called out to the rest of the crew. They all walked out onto the deck to watch as they approached a large beach running along a huge landmass.

Massive gray boulders jutted out behind the beach like a spear into the heavens, casting a shadow over the water and sand beneath. Cyll let out a slow whistle as they grew closer.

“Pretty place. Where’s Apton?”

“On the other side of Peak Beach,” Maud replied from the wheel. “We shall arrive within the hour. Captain, do you suspect we will find opposition at the docks? We are not currently prepared for a sea confrontation.”

“It’s always a possibility,” Knell replied, walking up to the bow of the Withered Rose. “But I wouldn’t expect it. Apton isn’t a guild town, and the only seafaring enemies we have are the pirates of Blackfoot Bay. They shouldn’t be anywhere near us.”

“Understood,” Maud said. “I suggest you upgrade the Withered Rose’s capabilities soon so that we do not have to fear a naval battle. Five Boons the size of the first one you fed me should suffice.”

“Noted,” Knell said. “Should I stumble into five Boons and have nothing better to do with them, then they shall be yours.”

“What’s our goal when we dock?” Stix asked. “Find the thing for Maya?”

“Information,” Knell replied. “Joseph said there was a possibility of a Path Change Stone being here, but it can’t be common knowledge or someone would have taken it already. That probably means its sitting somewhere in a dungeon. I don’t think it needs to be said, but nobody is to say what our purpose here is. If questioned, we are simply passing through and restocking.”

“The stone could be in some rich bastard’s house,” Cyll said. “Maybe it’ll be a nice, simple smash and grab.”

Coal’s beak clacked.

“I don’t think Coal likes rich people,” Cyll said. “Who’s our little revolutionary? You are!”

“Do not patronize my bird, Cyll. We don’t need you to feed him any more fingers. He’s going to need to go on a diet at this rate.”

Cyll harrumphed and crossed his arms. “Yeah, yeah. They’re perfectly nutritious.”

The Withered Rose passed by the jutting stone outcropping and turned around the point of the beach. Moss covered walls rose up along the shore before them as Apton finally came into view.

Apton was built alongside a sheer cliff, and a large portion of the city was held up by sturdy wood and metal stilts that sunk into the choppy ocean below. The docks of the city were full of ships, most of them far larger than the Withered Rose.

A multitude of flags fluttered from the dock and ships, ranging from the skull and crossbones to colorful merchant livery. Three square stone guard towers rose above Apton and overlooked the dock, a powerful ballistae mounted atop each one.

The Withered Rose sailed into port, lowering their sails as they grew closer. Maud remained at the helm as the drifted up to the docks while Cyll and Stix roped the ship into place. A lone guardsman approached the ship as the crew got it settled in.

A sea-tarnished helm sat atop his head, and he carried a spear in a lazy grip by his side. Judging by his bulging gut and unkempt armor, Knell suspected that Apon hadn’t seen much in the way of a serious threat in quite some time.

The man’s eyes roamed over the glowing green planks of the Withered Rose, and a flicker of unease passed over his features. He drew to a stop on the other side of the dock. Knell raised his staff slightly in greeting, and the man’s face turned paler.

“What brings you to Apton? We’re part of the Shattered Sea Maritime Organization, so it would be best to avoid starting any trouble while you’re on our shores.”

“We have no plans of starting trouble. Despite my appearance, we are simply passing through,” Knell said. “We’re pirates, not savages.”

The guardsman relaxed and let out a chuckle. “Ah. Right. Little intimidating, you are. There’s a docking fee, mind you. Payable if your crew sets foot on Apton’s soil.”

“How much?” Cyll asked, ambling up to join Knell.

“One silver a day. We’ll ensure your ship is watched over and untouched,” the guard said, straightening his back and puffing his chest out. The motion only made him look even more out of place.

“My ship is more than capable of defending itself,” Knell said. “But your added watch will be greatly appreciated. Where is the fee payable too?”

“The Dockmaster,” the guard said, indicating an old two-story building. It was nearly completely covered in fuzzy moss, and vines hung from its roof like earthy hair. “You can just slide it into the payment slot in the door. I’ll mark it off that you’ve paid.”

“Thank you,” Knell said. “Is there a place we should head to if we’d like to learn of interesting happenings in the area?”

“We don’t have an adventurer’s guild, if that’s what you’re asking,” the guard said. “Closest thing we got is Beeb’s Inn. It’s the big wooden building in the town square. You can’t miss it.”

“Much appreciated. We’ll be off, then.”

Cyll hopped over the side of the boat and helped Knell onto the dock. The rest of the crew followed after them, and the guard took a few steps back. He let out an audible sigh once they’d passed him by.

“They don’t seem very ready for much trouble,” Cyll observed in a low tone as they approached the Dockmaster’s building. Knell nodded thoughtfully as he slid a silver coin into the pay slot.

“It would be wise to figure out who else is part of this organization they’re a part of,” Knell said. “Hopefully, we can find some more information at the inn.”

“And some food,” Stix added. “I’ve had it with dried meats. I want something fresh.”

Coal cawed in agreement.