The tavern doors swung open, banging noisily against the walls. Silhouette in the noon sun was a man wearing an elaborate cavalier hat complete with a white feather. He paused for a moment, studying the room and started to walk forward. He carried a small fancy silver chest under one arm and held the handle of his cutlass with the other.
The main room of the tavern was quiet at this time of the day. One man stood to confront the newcomer, cockiness in every step. He stood in front of the man in the cavalier hat but before he could speak, the guy simply reached out and grabbed him in a chokehold, holding him up off the floor effortlessly.
The man in the hat studied the other for a moment. “Nope, wrong guy,” he said and threw the hapless guy to one side. He crashed into the wall and passed out for a moment. The newcomer continued walking across the bar until he reached a male merfolk who was sitting, nursing a drink.
He carefully placed the chest on the table, sitting opposite the merfolk, relaxing in the chair. “So you might be wondering why I’m here?”
The merfolk looked up and shrugged. “Not really.”
“Well, you should be interested, my friend. Because you are the reason I’m here,” he replied.
The merfolk was curious. “Am I? I don’t know you.”
“No you don’t but you are the end result of a series of events that started with the day that I nearly drowned. How about I start at the beginning and tell you what happened?” the man said.
“Go ahead,” the merfolk replied. “Tell me your story.”
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Coughing up seawater, Avery pulled himself up onto the beach and out of the waves. His head hurt, his lungs felt half full of water and most of the rest of his body felt like it was bruised in some way. He felt like he’d been in a shipwreck.
And that made sense because he had.
He coughed more, clearing some of the seawater from his lungs and rolled onto his side, his breathing slowing a little. After a moment, he managed to sit up and look around.
Then he realised things were missing, starting with his boots. He loved those boots, they were perfectly worn in, comfortable and kept his feet warm even when wet. None of which helped him now because they weren’t anywhere in sight.
That wasn’t all. Some of his potions were missing from their slots on his belt. His pouch was still there and thankfully, his cutlass was still in place. But his clothes were a bit tattered, including a slash down the left sleeve and a missing area from the right left of his pantaloons.
So how had he ended up here? And where was here anyway?
Avery had been the first mate on the Marauder's Vengeance for two years now. He’d worked his way up through different roles on the crew and was proud of the privateer ship he worked on.
The contract had been just like the ones they had taken many times in the past. They were hired to help deal with the pirates causing problems for the merchants in the area so the military could focus elsewhere.
Of course, there was always some kind of risk. The pirates could be more dangerous than they expected or there could be more of them. The weather could play tricks on them and cause problems.
Or they could be attacked by a Kraken.
And that’s exactly what happened this time. Two days into the contract, crossing the Azure Sea heading north, there was suddenly a massive bank of clouds appeared and lightning cracked the sky. The air became heavy and there it was - the huge tendril of a Kraken, rising into the air with water gusting from it. Then another and a third.
The crew were shouting and racing around the deck, the captain clinging to the wheel, trying desperately to steer the ship away from the massive creature. But when a Kraken wanted a ship, there was little a crew could do.
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The three tendrils crashed into the ship and Avery felt himself being thrown into the air. He hit something, probably the main mast on reflection, and then he blacked out.
Next thing he knew, he was crawling up the beach, choking up seawater. He had no idea how long had passed or where he was.
One thing was for sure, there was no sign of civilisation anywhere near him. There was a nice stretch of beach, a few sand dunes and some trees in the distance. He scanned around, listing what he could see - sand, more sand, a few trees, a stream and a black guy with dreadlocks…
He stopped scanning, his attention returning to the man who was to his left. And who he was completely sure hadn’t been there a moment ago.
“Avery, my friend, you got here!” the man said, clapping his hands and grinning. “It was touch and go for a moment there, thought you might drown!”
Avery stared at the man and realised that there was something off about this character. He looked like a pirate with his black cavalier hat and large off-white feather. His shirt and pantaloons were once brightly coloured but looked well-worn and a touch tattered. He carried a cutlass and his accent was similar to the people from the Hollow Queedom that Avery had met in his years at sea.
Then there were the things that didn’t seem right. His glowing green eyes were very non-human but the most obvious thing that told Avery this wasn’t a man was the fact that he almost seemed to be moving in water. His clothes were dripping wet, there was water puddled under his feet and he smelled faintly of seawater.
“Do I know you?” Avery asked, attempting to stand up and then realising this wasn’t a good idea as his head spun violently. He sat back down hard on the sand.
“We’ve met before but I sincerely doubt you remember me,” the man replied, crouching down to study Avery with his hands resting on his knees. “That’s just my lot in life.”
“But you seemed to know I would be here,” Avery added, frowning.
“Yes I know a lot of stuff,” came the reply. “My name is Armood, great to meet you officially!” he added, leaning over to shake Avery’s hand.
Avery returned the handshake still feeling baffled. “Where am I?”
“You are on one of the lovely beaches of Ardene Kingdom. The region is called The Shifting Isles and I have no idea what this beach is called if it even has a name,” Armood replied.
Avery knew the Ardene Kingdom and felt like he had heard of The Shifting Isles before but it was further away from the areas that he had visited. And it seemed a long way from where the ship had been wrecked.
“How did I get here? I know we were nowhere near the Ardene Kingdom when we sank,” he said.
Armood stood up, brushing imaginary sand from his trousers which just ended up spraying Avery with more water. “That’s a story for another day, my friend. Because my time is limited.”
“And this affects me how?” Avery asked, feeling what little patience he had evaporating.
“Well, you see, I didn’t just happen across you here on this lovely beach,” Armood admitted. “I knew you would need to get home and that wouldn’t be easy with no gold or silver to your name. And it just happens that I have a few tasks that need to be done. If you can help me with them, I can get you home. If all goes well, you could end up a rich man and even have your own ship!”
Suspicion filled Avery’s mind. “Tasks? What kind of tasks?”
Armood reached out a hand and pulled Avery to his feet. “Let’s not jump ship right now. You nearly drowned, you look terrible and you have no boots. How about I give you some gold to get food, somewhere to sleep and a few essentials then we chat again after that?”
“I’m not sure I can agree to take your gold until I know more about what you want from me,” Avery said, still suspicious.
Armood gave an elaborate sigh. “Mortals are so paranoid! Okay, let me tell you about your first two tasks to set your mind at ease.”
“Okay, tell me what you want,” Avery replied.
“The first one is this,” Armood said and with a flourish, withdrew a light brown coloured egg. “From now on, this egg has to be with you at all times. You cannot lose it and it cannot break. This is the most important thing!”
“It’s a chicken egg,” Avery stated, taking the egg and turning it gently in his hands.
“It doesn’t matter where it came from,” Armood replied, waving a hand dismissively. “It is just the most important thing in your world from now on.”
“And the other task?” Avery questioned.
“Head east from here and you will find a small town. On the seafront near the harbour, you’ll find an old man with an elaborately carved stick. You need to get that stick from him and keep it with you until I come to find you,” Armood said.
“Rob an old man? That’s a pretty harsh thing to do,” Avery commented.
Armood laughed. “Don’t worry about this old man. And you don’t need to rob him, just swap the stick with one of the same size and thickness and he won’t have a clue. He’s blind and more than a bit senile.”
“Not sure that makes me feel any better,” Avery admitted.
Armood shrugged. “Well, your other option is to spend years working the docks here and hope you can save enough to buy passage home. But I’ll tell you this, that’s a lot of gold!”
Avery considered his options for a moment and sighed. Babysit an egg and swap a stick for another stick held by a blind old man. It didn’t sound difficult and if it got him closer to a trip home, then it was worth it.
“Okay, you have a deal,” Avery said holding out his hand.
Armood shook it. “Oh and one last thing, here’s some paper and a quill with some special ink. Keep a map of where you go and where you collect the items I request?”
“Why?” Avery asked.
Armood waved his hand again. “Don’t worry, I’ll explain everything later.”
There was an abrupt noise that sounded like a large splash of water and Avery found himself alone. A puddle of water marked where Armood had been standing but there was no other sign of him.
“What the nine hells?” Avery asked but there was no one to give him an answer.