[Raleigh]

The darkness of night is slowly saturated by the rising morning sun. The gloomy shadows intent on devouring me become little more than memories to laugh at, the wary glancing over my shoulder and the pounding blood in my ears now feels so distant and far away. As the sun fully crests the horizon all fear and unease are forgotten. The birds chirp and the insects buzz cheerfully all along the riverbanks. The incoming tide from the Inner Sea causes the fishing boat to slow down to a gentle drift. Since the boat only needs slight adjustments to its course, I make good use of the spare time to fish off the side of the boat. For bait, I use pieces of uncooked peepeye meat, peepeye is a medium sized fish that is native too and commonly found in the kingdom of Enor. Wrapping the smelly meat twice firmly around a hook, I then unraveled the thin mox hair twine that I use as a fishing line. After dropping the line into the water, I tie the top off to one of the many protruding ribs of the boat. feeling that the boat is starting to drift off course I stand and stretch with a long yawn. Then I move to the helm and correct the course so that the ship is back in line with the center of the river. As I go to sit back down by my fishing line, the door of the tiny cabin opens and out walks Edward, squinting at the sudden brightness. “Good morninggg.” Yawns Edward.

“Morning Mr Lorenz… Ed. We’ve nearly reached the entrance of the lake.”

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“Good, we should arrive at Caladhburn within the hour.”

…

“Hey Ed, have you ever been to Caladhburn before? Have you ever seen a Dwarf?”

“I haven’t left Rynnwhere since I was nine.”

“Oh… I’m so sorry Ed”

“No it’s okay, I'm excited to be free of that monotonous town.”

Without warning the whole boat surges to the left, tipping Me and Edward off our feet and down onto the deteriorating wooden planks that make up the hull.

“By the Ancient!” I exclaim. “It's my fishing line! I must’ve hooked a monster!”

“I can’t believe your line is holding up.” mutters Edward as he stumbles to his feet.

“It’s pulling us out to the lake! If it reaches the lake it will escape for sure!”

“It could also pull us too far out, if it does we will never see the Silvester again. We have two options: we can cut the line. Or, we can catch this bloody muppet! What do you say Raleigh?”

Slowly the corners of my mouth pull up into a boyish grin.

“Let's do it.”