Anton knew he was out of his depth before the boat even docked. Rused was so large! And busy. While his hometown boasted a single pier to dock ships at, Rused had at least three—that he could see. With all the ships blocking his line of sight, there might be more.

The town was set in a natural harbour, the entrance of which was guarded by a military vessel. It looked completely different from the wide-bodied trading ships that Anton was used to. Even the raider's ships had been rigged for sail and proportioned to carry as many men as possible. This was a galley, long and sleek. It looked dangerous even when it wasn’t moving.

Unconcerned, the Kabimen had sailed their boat right past it. Anton had watched the soldiers on deck nervously, but they didn’t seem interested in them.

“Told you it would be fine,” the Kabiman captain said. “They don’t bother traders.”

“Makes sense,” Kelsey mused. “If they did, they’d lose the trade.”

The captain looked warily at her. The crew had started out liking her, but they’d gotten more nervous as the voyage progressed. Not sleeping for the three days of the voyage had worried them, but summoning some skeletons to bail water had really spooked them.

“They like money, same as anyone else,” he agreed. “And sailors get levels quick. We’re always sailing.”

“True. Where should we be docking?”

She addressed the question to the two courl that were accompanying them, but it was the captain that answered first.

“Traders dock on the first dock, there.” He pointed.

“Is that where we want to go?” Kelsey asked Kusec. He was huddled under a hooded cloak that Kelsey had provided, looking at the town nervously.

“That’s fine, he said shortly. “As long as it isn’t near there.” He pointed to the third dock, lined with familiar-looking ships. “We don’t want to get arrested for desertion.”

“Is it really desertion, when you were captured?” She asked. “If you showed up, told them that you’d been captured, escaped and made your way back here, would they take you back?”

“Maybe,” the courl admitted. “Heck of a story though, not sure if I could sell it.”

Left unsaid was that he wouldn’t be trying it without permission. When they were in the dungeon, the two raiders had felt that escape was impossible. Lacking hope, they hadn’t tested the geas at all. That lasted until a short time after they set sail.

The plan had been simple: toss the three adventurers overboard and then force the Kabimen to keep sailing for their destination. It had gone wrong the second they attempted it.

Kelsey had explained that the geas manifested differently for each person. For Anton, it was fear. For these two, it was pain. They’d cried out and dropped to the ground the moment they laid their hands on Kelsey, who just looked at them as if they were a particularly interesting species of bug. It turned out that she’d heard all their planning, and had just been waiting for them to try it.

“What have we learned?” she asked them when they recovered.

Kusec did most of the talking for the pair, even now that the group had a basic understanding of Elitran. He looked at his friend and then looked back at Kelsey.

“We won’t try to escape, harm anyone or alert the authorities. We’ll obey any reasonable order from you three,” he said sullenly.

“And you’re free if we find Aris’s sister or a year and a day has passed. Easy!”

Thinking back on it, that was probably when the Kabimen had started feeling nervous.

Now, knowing what they must be thinking, Kelsey grinned wolfishly. “Don’t worry boys, if we get lucky, we might find Cheia by the end of the week. Then you can go back to the warm embrace of your countrymen.”

The two courl stared at her, but couldn’t work up the nerve to glare. They bowed their heads and pulled their hoods over further.

Docking looked tricky to Anton, but the Kabimen were professionals and managed it with ease. Kelsey smiled as they tied up and dropped some silver in the claw of the captain.

“You’re staying here a week, right?”

“Aye. If the cargo we find isn’t going your way, you’ll make up the difference.”

“Or find another ship,” Kelsey agreed. “I’ll let you know as soon as we find out.”

The kabiman nodded, and Kelsey lept up to the dock, joining the rest of her party. They were all looking around, Anton and Aris in wonderment while the two courl were looking nervously around for threats.

One such threat was approaching now, walking at an officious pace.

“Are you the captain of this vessel?” The courl asked. He was tall, with chestnut-brown fur and amber eyes. He was dressed somewhat ridiculously to Anton’s eyes, but he looked rich, and the way their two prisoners shied away from him made Anton think he was important. Something in the group’s stance made him gravitate to Kelsey as the leader.

You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.

“Who asking?” Kesley asked nonchalantly. Anton frowned. Kelsey was better than him at speaking Elitran, but he wouldn’t have made that mistake.

The man sneered. “Barbarians. You see this hat?” he asked, pointing to the elaborate three-pointed hat that he was wearing. “That means that I’m the Harbourmaster, in charge of these docks. I decide who gets to tie up, and who gets to stay.”

“That does sound important,” Kesley agreed. “Maybe you can tell me something that’s been puzzling me.” She pointed to the next dock over. “How does a merchant get so rich he can afford a ship like that?”

The harbourmaster looked over to where she was pointing and scoffed. “Fool! That’s no merchant ship. It belongs to al-Zahar Pasha, an official of far more importance than any merchant.”

The ship in question did look important. It was far larger than any of the other ships in the harbour, sporting three decks, one of which seemed reserved for oars. It was also rigged for sail, with two masts and it had high fortified sections at the bow and stern. All of it was gaudily painted, and from what Anton could see of the furled sails, they seemed to have been dyed a rich magenta.

“Pasha? I haven’t heard of that one,” Kelsey replied. “Is that more or less important than the Bey what runs the city?”

“Ignorant naif,” the courl growled. “This city is ruled by Nasira al-Qadir Wali, may he live forever. He governs the entire island but has deigned to honour this city with his presence. He has two Beys that head the military and civilian administrations.”

“That sure is a lot of important people,” Kelsey said. “How does the Pasha fit in there, then?”

“It’s not comparable,” the harbourmaster said irritably. “The Pasha is from the Emir’s court and isn’t part of the city’s administration. He is just here to oversee the harvest.”

“That’s a mighty fancy boat to haul some grapes,” Kelsey observed.

“Not crops,” the courl said, scandalised. “He’s here to collect the dungeon core.”

“Is he,” Kelsey said, the friendliness dropping out of her tone. She took a long look at the other dock. Anton could make out a number of richly dressed people making their way off the boat. There were also a lot of guards.

“Kelsey…” Anton stepped forward, ready to intervene. Kelsey looked at him and smiled, but she didn’t say anything.

“Now look, if you’re the captain, I need to see your cargo manifest.” The harbourmaster said. Kelsey paused for just a second and then seemed to relax.

“Oh, I’m not the captain,” Kelsey said easily, pointing out the actual captain. “That’s him, we’re just passengers.”

The courl’s eyes flicked to the captain, and then back to Kelsey. “If you’re looking to stay, the entry fee is three copper.” He looked over at the hooded courls. “Two for Elitrans.”

Kelsey handed over a coin. “Will these coins do?”

“Barbarian coinage,” the courl sneered, as he examined it closely. “But overweight. I’ll accept it,” he admitted.

He pulled a small book out of his vest. “I’ll need your names.”

Kelsey grimaced, but gave her name, as did Anton and Aris. Their guides hesitated and eventually gave false names. Kelsey raised an eyebrow at that, and then led them down the dock, leaving the harbourmaster to harass the captain.

“That was a risk,” she said, “He might have had an identification trait.”

“More of a risk if our names show up in records,” Kusec grunted. “You never know who’s going to be cross-checking.”

“Fair enough,” Kelsey said, shrugging.

“What was that about a harvest?” Aris asked.

“I heard about it from Mel,” Kelsey said shortly. “You want to fill us in, Kusec?”

Kusec looked at them warily. “You don’t want a dungeon to grow too big, so once it reaches a certain level, it gets… harvested. There’s always a demand for dungeon cores.”

“Surely there’s a lot more value in the loot,” Anton said. “Yeah, another one would spawn, but you’d have to find it, that could take years.”

“On the mainland, that’s true,” Kusec agreed. “They let those places go a lot longer. But here, and a few other places, it’s different. This island is the only place for a hundred miles where a dungeon can spawn. Doesn’t take too long to find the new one.”

“How often do they do it, Kusec?” Kelsey asked, softly.

“I dunno. They level them up pretty fast, with ah… recalcitrant slaves.” Kusec carefully didn’t look at Aris. “If they can’t be trained or they’re too old to be… economic, they get fed to the dungeon. A year or two, I’d guess.”

“A year or two…” Kelsey repeated, staring at nothing. “The fact that he’s here— do you think that means it’s happened?”

The two courls looked at each other and shrugged. “Maybe?” Kusec said. “Probably not, if he’s just arrived. The way I heard it, he’s the one that makes the decision, and the nobility are never quick about anything.”

“Except collecting what they’re owed,” Erryan pointed out.

“Well,” Kelsey said. “There’s not much we can do about it right this moment. So for now, let’s check out the market!”

“Can we find an inn, first?” Aris objected. “We’ve been washing in salt water and sleeping on boards for three days. I want a bath.”

“You got used to hot water real quick,” Kelsey complained. “Where’s your sense of excitement? We’re a step closer to finding your sister!”

“You don’t sleep at all, or need to wash,” Aris countered. “And when you do, the salt doesn’t dry on your skin!”

“Fine, fine. We’ll look for one. Do you know a place?” she asked their guides.

Kusec shook his head. “We stayed at the barracks when we were here. We know the general area you want though.”

He started leading the group through the market. Anton swallowed nervously at the thought of merging with such a large crowd. The press of milling people was mostly comprised of Courl and yellow-skinned humans. Other shades of skin were visible though: darker, paler and even blue.

Anton started when he saw a man with four legs stride through the crowd. His head was adorned with four-pronged antlers, and there was a sword at his side.

A few moments later, he saw a small group of what had to be Scaled Folk. Anton had heard of them, and his parents had met some once, but they lived far to the west and rarely came near Kirido. They wore clothes, of course, so all he could see of their brightly coloured scales were the ones on their hands and their elongated, flattened faces. Each person had a different colour arrangement, just like his parents had said.

“It’s nice to get out and see the world, isn’t it Anton?” Kelsey said.

“It’s different,” he said, not sure if he agreed. “It’s a lot of different.”

“That’s basically what growing is,” Kelsey told him. “Experiencing a lot of different things. Kirido was a rut, and now you’ve jumped out of it.”

“I liked it though,” he objected. “All my friends were there.”

“You’ll go back eventually, but first you’ll make more friends and face new challenges. It’s going to be exciting!”

She grinned at him.

“Excitement, adventure and really wild things. Did I promise you that?”

“No,” Anton said. “Just to save me. I think I’d had quite enough excitement that night.”

“No such thing,” Kelsey demurred. “You’ll see.”