Merigol Pirates
The moon glowed brightly over the plains. Jed Karnai sat on the roof of his cousin’s home inhaling the moonlight. The roof was hard, but comfortable in a way. He laid back on the slope and stared up above, and then a sound from close by jolted him out of his thoughts. It was coming from the river. Jed stood up quickly and launched himself from the roof landing soundlessly on the ground below.
“Anyone there?!” he called out toward the river. There was no response. Jed called again. No one responded, but he definitely heard something. Jed snapped his fingers and an orb of light was called into existence in his hand. He held it out in front of him, directing its beam toward the source of the noise.
The trees and shrubs hid whoever, or whatever, was there, and it was too late for Jed to react when a silent flash of light struck his eyes, and he passed out.
When Jed came to, he was bound, blind folded, and gagged. Instead of panicking, he exhaled calmly and reached for the ropes around his hand. Touching them he could feel the magic infused in the chords. He touched more gently now, with the tips of his fingers. it was like reading brail, but Jed could decipher most of the code used to bind the cords. Jed quickly concocted a spell to negate the one infused in the rope and released it through his fingertips. He could feel the two frequencies of magic nullify each other, but as the binding spell disintegrated, he sensed a warning spell.
He heard a door slam open and heavy, stomping foot steps come closer to him. He could here the floorboards creak. A thick, rough hand reached down and pulled Jed up to a standing position by the scruff of his neck. Jed could smell and feel his hot pungent breath. It was hard for Jed to remain standing on the basis that his legs were also bound.
“What do you think you are doing with my spell?!” shouted the man.
Jed felt the gag with his tongue. It had no magic integrated with it, so he simply disintegrated the cloth. “Honestly,” Jed replied, “The spell wasn’t that well constructed. You did do a good job at hiding the fail safe!” Jed just smiled. He had already destroyed the ropes, but the man didn’t know.
“Don’t play smart with me!” warned the man.
“Oh I’m sorry,” remarked Jed. “It’s very hard not to.”
The man just growled, Jed could sense the man’s large other hand balled into a fist inches from his right ear.
“I’m sorry to cut this meeting short,” finished Jed, “But I’m afraid I’m running late and must leave.” Jed touched the back of the man’s thick neck and released a temporary immobilizer spell. The man fell with a loud thud to the wooden floor. Jed wasted no time, he ripped off his blindfold and unbound his legs.
The man was very large and thickly muscled. Jed couldn’t see the man casting much of a spell. Jed glanced around himself. He was on a boat, no doubt a river boat. he doubted that a legal commercial vessel would kidnap an individual and lock them up.
“Pirates,” hissed Jed. He was in the cargo hull. Surrounding him were bales and bales of… What is this stuff? Jed felt around his shoulder, but his pack wasn’t there. Jarrod! Okay now, let’s think this through rationally. I shouldn’t leave the hull yet. As far as the other crew mates — if there are other crew mates — know, this guy is probably still down here questioning me. Now where’s Jarrod? Jed reached down to put his hand’s over the man’s eyes, and whispered, “Let me see what these eyes have seen.” He opened his own eyes and saw himself walking backward through the door, he waited patiently as the vision went backward and then he saw it.
The magical book passed down for generations in his family sat just on the other end of the hull. Well that’s simple. Thought Jed. He got up, leaving the unconscious man and started for his bag. It was hidden behind a bale of whatever they had pirated.
Lifting up the pack, Jed produced a book thicker than his wrist but no longer than his forearm. The cover held a message: Why did you let them do that?! You knew exactly how to defend us from their attack!
Well I’m sorry! hissed Jed, They caught me off guard!
The text changed: You were supposed to anticipate these kind of things! As Andoan-Karnai you are not supposed to be caught off guard! You are just lucky they don’t know who you are!
What do you know? Asked Jed. Jarrod was the spirit of a man that served Jed’s ancestors thousands of years ago. He had sold his soul to the wrong people and the Karnais had to rescue him, in return they owned his soul, and because his original body was destroyed, he gladly accepted his eternal role as their magical book. Jarrod possessed the ability of and infinite memory and could absorb all the information in a person the moment they touched him, as well as anything else that held information, like another book. He could also communicate telepathically with his holder.
The crew is small but both strong in body and skill. He referred to skill as in their accomplishment in magic. The captain was once a good man and he still has a glimmer of goodness. The crew hangs off his every thought, they are bound by thoughts, but only willfully. The man you knocked out didn’t give anything away. Or he shouldn’t have. I believe you can get through to the captain, and he has no intention of killing you. He might have recognized you only because I saw the expression change in his face. He didn’t touch me after he saw you, and if he recognized you he kept it from his crew.
Okay, exhaled Jed. This should be easy.
The crew should know that you tripped the spell and I’m assuming they’ll be expecting him.
What should I do?
First off, don’t panic, and just walk out on deck. They captain should be up there. Just connect my mind to his. I remained silent while he examined me.
Jed nodded. First though, could you tell me what this stuff is? He gestured to the bales around them.
It’s a rare crop. Only grown in the northern edges of the Digoran Peninsula. It’s called kai-kau. It enjoys a symbiotic relationship with kau-kau worms who produce the finest silk from the rare minerals taken in by the plant that are only found in the Digoran Region. See the large pods? They are actually the leaves of the plant glued into a shell of the thick silk cocoons. Each pod contains one kau-kau worm each. As a matter of fact, this was in a shipment to a steaming station further down the river, but the captain is part of a Pirate League. He has connections to where he can get the pods opened and harvested for their silk. Of course the other pirate will demand payment and according to the League code…
He was cut off by Jed. Normally Jed would have enjoyed the trivia, but he needed to get moving. The unconscious pirate was beginning to stir. Jed slid across the hull silently toward the door. he passed through into a corridor with cabins on either side. For the first time he could here the gentle sound of the river splash against the boat. On the far end of the corridor was a ladder bathed in sunlight. Jed hadn’t realized how long he had been unconscious.
Replacing Jarrod in his bag, Jed began to climb the ladder onto the surface. As he poked his had out on deck, he immediately saw the Captain standing next to his first mate who manned the wheel. The moment of of the seven crew members on board saw him, everyone looked at Jed. He acted quickly.
Jumping out of the hole he reached into his pack and grasped Jarrod tightly and then reached out his mind connecting his with the Captain. The Captain was taken aback by this and called his pirates off.
Come, commanded the Captain. Jed realized at once that the man was mute.
Jed began toward him…
…to be continued…
(So what do you think?! Please reply, if you like this story, I want two people to say they would like to read more before I update. I need to know that you are there! Please give me some feed back. What did you like, what could I improve on? If you don’t like this idea I have plenty more!)
Part two: http://matthiasoreklein.wordpress.com/2008/06/10/merigol-pirates-part-2/
Matthias Oreklein’s Blog by Matthias Oreklein is licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-Noncommercial-No Derivative Works 3.0 United States License.
