After lots of crying she smiled and laid back down. “Water.” was all she said. “Right, I'll go get you something to eat and drink.” As I headed out the door I heard her whisper, “Thanks love.”

Once I left the captain's quarters I realized I had no idea where to get food on a ship. I walked up to one of the crew. “Hey... Uh where do I get some food?” They pointed to the stairs to the cargo hold. “Thanks.”

Down there stairs is where the crew's cots are and the captain was laying in one with his hands behind his head staring up at the deck. “Captain.” I nodded to him which he wouldn't have noticed. He sat up. “Tom! How's the princess?” “Tired and hungry but doing pretty good all things considered.” “Glad to hear it. I’m sorry for my part in this, Tom.” His head was down. “You did the right thing when you became aware.” I don't think it helped much but it felt like the right thing to say to him. He nodded, “You are wise for one so young.” After a few seconds he spoke again, “Oh right, she is awake and probably starving. Through the doors behind you there is food."

The room mostly had cheese, a type of bread, and salted meats. I grabbed a lot of each and threw it in a large wooden bowl, grabbed a knife and a large mug of water which I cleansed then headed back up. Entering I heard Kat laughing and I saw Tory sitting in the chair. I moved next to the bed. “Hey.” Tory stood up “Sir.” “It’s okay Tory, relax.” She sat back down. “Now what was so funny?” “Oh Tory was just sharing a story about a helmet accident.” Kat started laughing again. “Care to share?” I asked Tory. “I... have things that need to be done.” She stood up and walked past me. “I’m sorry to interrupt.” I handed her the bowl of food. “Thank you.” She sighed. “She really wanted to make me smile, I guess.” “Yeah, she's a good person.” Kat smirked, “Will you marry her?” “What?” Did my betrothed really just ask me that? “You are human. You have needs.” “Look Kat.” I sighed, shaking my head. “I still need to mourn the loss of my last marriage before I marry again.” She put her head down, “Oh... I apologize Tom.” “It’s alright. So where do you want to go once we get to Shasti?” She looked up at me and smiled, “Clothes first!” she said as she dropped her sheet, revealing her tattered clothes in which I turned away. She knew what she was doing because she started giggling but she quickly got serious, “Mother will want to see me at our earliest convenience so I guess home after.” “Would she really have gone to war over this?” Kat nodded, “We let humans get away with most things. Expansions of land or small military conquests against smaller races. Us elves know humans have short lives so we know they try to get as much out of it as they can but it seems to contradict the warlike nature of humans and their need for expansion. As long as it does not involve elves we try to stay out of their way because we do not like conflict but the reality is they are more powerful than us and you guys breed so quickly.” She smiled at the end. I smiled back, “Na, you just breed slowly.” “True.”

She must have been starving because she ate almost the entire large bowl. “Thank you again Tom. For everything.” “Anytime Princess.” She handed me the bowl and I finished it off.

“So Kat, do you know anything about demons or a Goddess Kalypso?” She looked confused, “I know a lot about demons but I have never heard that name before.” So she really is forgotten then. Kats knowledge I assume is probably more than most people in this world. “The demons are helping her be remembered. She's the unnamed god.” “How do you know this?” I had never seen her like this. “Demons do the demaging.” “Tom. How do you know this?” “We…Tory and I beat your ship to the Tamsa hideout and inside we killed two demons and a Tamsa leader.” “No one just kills demons Tom. Are you sure?” “Dark red scaly skin with spines everywhere. Red hot eyes and fang like teeth. One of its arms was like a spear. Sound like a demon?” “Um, exactly like a higher ranked lower demon which are called Soultakers. Although I have only read that they ferry souls to their home, wherever that is.” She kind of murmured at the end. “Higher ranked lower demon?” She put on her teacher's face. “Yes, their race would be best described like how a military is formed. So many ranks and different commands. There are also factions that specialize in areas. For the demons they have a type of demon for each rank and such. Our knowledge of demons and Angelics is very limited because like gods they are mostly magical creatures who do not live in our physical world.” “Thanks for the lesson teacher.” She smiled, “Of course, student.”

We sat in silence for a minute before Kat spoke, “Tom could you get me some water to wash with, then I need to try and rest.” “I sure can.” Returning to the kitchen I cleaned the bowl and filled it with water and cleansed it then took it back to her. The captain had rags and towels in his room for her to use. As I entered I grabbed one in a drawer like shelf and set the bowl down on the little table next to the bed. She was asleep so I figured I would at least wash her face for her. As I started she woke up smiling with her eyes still closed, “Thank you, Love.” As those words left her mouth, her eyes shot open and she wore a shocked expression. I smiled back and handed her the wet cloth. “No problem.” and got up to leave. “I will give you some privacy so you can wash then rest afterwards.” I nodded and left before she replied.

To help pass the time I talked with the captain a little bit and he then assigned me to work on the ship doing various jobs along with one of his crew to teach me. A sailing ship of this size is so much more complex than I thought it would be but I loved every minute of it.

Just as the large red sun had set, where it was still light out we could see another ship which wasn't a first but this callout was, “Pirates!” the crewman in the nest called down. Off in the distance I see a smaller ship with two masts gaining on us.

The whole ship came alive with commands and preparations while I headed to the back or stern of the ship and watched the new ship. Feleen walked up to me, “Will you help us defend this ship?” I nodded, “Sure.” “Good. We will wait until they get within arrows range to fire at them.” “They are for sure pirates?” “Yes.” “What's the punishment for pirates?” “Death.” She said with anger.

This text was taken from Royal Road. Help the author by reading the original version there.

They were gaining on us quite quickly. I could see oars and people on the ship now. Because they were more out in the ocean they weren't directly behind us so I could clearly see two masts. I imagined a lightning bolt splitting and striking both masts. I held my hands out toward the ship to be more dramatic and yelled, “Lightning!”

Almost instantly a streak of light slammed into the ship and I could see what seemed like an explosion of wood towards the base of the masts above the deck. They were both toppling over. A single loud thunderclap caused me and many others to flinch. A small fire broke out and I could see them trying to put it out but also they were now losing speed very quickly.

A wave of exhaustion hit me but it wasn't very strong. I turned to see Feleen’s party standing there with shock in their faces. Maybe it was the realization of how close to death they got today. “I don't think I killed many.” Feleen was already aware that I was a mage so I don't think it fazed her much, “Thank you, Tom.” “It seemed like the safest option for everyone, even the pirates.” She nodded, “Certainly.” I started heading to the captains quarters as cheering started breaking out on our ship as they watched the pirate ship. No one came near me.

As I crawled into bed next to a sleeping Kat I thought about a life here. It has only been about two months but it has felt like a lifetime. It feels more like a second life and I need to stop looking back at events that happened that I can't change and move forward and find happiness again. It's decided then. No more procrastinating. When I get back to Frint I’ll ask the Empress if she learned about a way home as one last attempt to learn if I can or not. after a while I drifted off to sleep with Kat's comfort.

“Tom, we made it to Shasti. Time to get up.” Kat said while lightly shaking me. “I’m up.” “Good. I am going to get some clothes then meet you at the gates. You should grab some breakfast and then get us a carriage to Landyr.” “What about relaying messages?” “Toryani is taking care of that. She is also going back to Eldrin with many of the people you rescued. Captain Rhys is taking them.” “Oh, that's nice.” “It is. Anyway, I will see you soon.” After she left the room I got up and made my way to a little inn near the dock and had a nice crab like meat on a biscuit for breakfast. After swallowing my pride and asking for directions I made my way to the coach house where they set me up with a nice young human man named Perst who would take us to Landyr. He informed me the trip would take three days if we left now and so we did.

As we got to the gatehouse I informed Perst to wait here for Kat but she was waiting for us. She had a beautiful green and white floral summer dress on. If she wasn't six foot four I wouldn't have recognized her as quickly as I did. I noticed her hair was brushed nicely again as it was flowing in the light wind. I stepped out to greet her, “You look beautiful.” Her pale skin Blushed, “Oh. Tom, thank you.” She hugged me as Perst hopped down but said nothing once he saw her. “Right, Kat this is Perst our driver.” “Nice to meet you, Perst.” After a few awkward seconds with his face turning red he finally said, “Miss.” After that we were on our way to Landyr.

“Tom, I have a few questions.” “I’ll try to answer them.” “Where is Pem?” “Heading home I believe.” A question came to my mind, “Why don’t you Scry her?” “It does not feel…” After a few seconds of her searching for a word I said, “An invasion of privacy. I get it.” She just nodded and then said, “Scry Pemilandituril.” Tears came to her eyes as she looked at me. “That was fast.” She nodded, “She is home and in bed. My sister is with her and they both looked so sad. Oh, just one more question.”

She took a deep breath to prepare herself, “Do you want to marry me?” Uh? “Wow, um okay. Hmm.. If the Empress finds nothing about a way to get home I will have felt I've done enough trying. Then I would very much like to marry you. Too much time has passed already.” “Really?” “I mean have you seen you?” I laughed as she blushed. “But honestly you have such a pure and kind heart. I would be very lucky to have you.” “Thank you.” “What about you, Kat?” She sighed, “I was prepared to never marry and just study magic and I would enjoy that life. I no longer feel that way. Thinking of being away from you hurts. That is when I knew…” I nodded, not wanting to hear the words or reply to them and they didn't come.

“Tom, I need to rest.” “Sleep well Princess.” She was out for the entire day as I watched the flat green grasslands slowly turn into rolling hills. My mind wandered and thoughts of things like bills and my life insurance came to mind. Under thirty and healthy but I did construction and anything can happen. While money doesn't buy happiness I hoped Maria got it and it helped her through losing me and taking care of the baby. I decided to stop scrying her to help me move on. I will one more time to see my son, when the time is right. Just before nightfall we stopped at an inn and we left before dawn.

The second day Kat taught me more Elvish. The rolling hills turned into the foothills. Being with Kat again was such a joy. She gave off a positive energy with her joy and when she was teaching she seemed to be the most happy. Before we started climbing a pass we rested at another inn.

The third day we climbed the pass which was much more green and less rocky than the last pass I went through. By the time we made it to Landyr just after dark, Kat said I was officially okay at elvish. Some elvish words were just hard to say and I knew I would never be perfectly fluent.

Landyr was the most interesting city. Because of its location it was the cultural melting pot of Magarnia and you could tell. It was dark but I could clearly see themed districts in terms of construction. I wasn't sure if the populace was segregated or if it was just the architecture. The great river was the divider for most things. We headed straight for the docks and within an hour we were on a boat headed towards paradise. We headed straight to our suite and eventually went to bed.

The next day we just stayed in the room and chatted, only leaving for food. Her bubbly joy had infected me. I had slept hard many nights since arriving but this night's sleep was the most peaceful.

Early in the day we arrived at Three peak village where our ship restocked then a few hours later we were on our way again. In the early afternoon we arrived at the waterfall we had seen. We took the path down that I had seen that night. According to Kat it was one of the few things elves, humans, and dwarves all worked to make. It was like a giant water slide for ships.

Another day passed and we were in Paradise. We arrived in the late afternoon and there was already a Royal Elven carriage and a retinue of soldiers waiting for us. We made it to Frint before dawn.