Zalan felt sand under his fists and seasickness in his throat. He heard before he saw. There was a beach nearby, brushing up and down the sands near him. It felt odd and serene to him. He kept his eyes closed, deliberately taking in the moment. A light drizzle of rain sprinkled over his face. Zalan smiled. His mom would love to come to the small sandy shore of Yosemite Lake after a shift at work. They would walk along the bridge and watch the sunset together. He wished she were with him at that moment.
The thought caused Zalan to snap upright. He was immediately overwhelmed with the need to cough violently. He beat his chest, getting clear of the remains of saltwater in his throat. His eyes shot open and he patted around himself, looking for wounds. Aside from a few bruises, he was fine. He blinked a few times, astounded at his circumstance, then rapidly looked around.
He was about thirty feet from the edge of the beach, washed ashore. There were bits of The Aegeusson strewn around him, mishmashed in their time spent in the fading storm. Zalan picked up one of the wood pieces in shock. There was no putting this ship back together. It wouldn’t live to carry on its namesake’s reputation. Zalan stood up and spun around, tossing the wood aside. The beach was lacking life. With that realization came another, more daunting one.
Zalan was alone.
“Rep!” he called, panicking.
The beach had a few outcroppings of rock, sticking out from deeper in the island. Stones crudely eroded by the sea to look like giant spearheads pointing out to sea. Zalan ran past a few of the rocks, tripping over himself as he searched. He was covered in sand, but ignored his discomfort in his search.
“Rep! Buttonwillow! Anyone?”
He looked out to the sea. Scraps of The Aegeusson mixed in with several other pieces of detritus. Nothing that looked human. Zalan ran both hands through his hair. The sea splashed and spat a salty mist in his face. There was nothing. No human, nor monster.
“Hello!” Zalan screamed.
He kept his hands locked onto his hair, gripping tightly. Dread and anxiety jumped through his heart. Zalan spun in place, desperate to see anyone out on the island. He lost balance and fell on his rear. He breathed uneasily, not sure what he was supposed to do. The isolation brought him back to a few days ago when he was alone for the first time. He went to the guild and back and that was enough that he felt uncomfortable. How was he supposed to navigate an island alone?
As he stared out at the expanse of water, another pertinent question crawled its way into his mind. How was he supposed to go back to Oriton? If The Aegeusson was gone, he was stranded on the island. It was already bad enough that he was alone, but he knew he would go crazy if he was left to his thoughts on the island. Going home to his world would be forever beyond his reach. He swallowed hard.
Zalan turned away from the sea and took in the island itself. He took a moment as he realized that the expedition was successful. He had arrived on the Island of Remains. This is exactly where he asked to be, but he had no interest in being here alone.
It was more earthen than he expected. It was covered in more boulders and rocky terrain than he anticipated. There was a mountain at the center, past the smatter of flora between the beach and its base. Zalan turned away from it. He had no interest in going deeper into the island unless he checked the beach for others that washed ashore first. He swallowed hard and began to make his way across the sand, dragging his feet in dismay. He would circumambulate the island if necessary.
After kicking something aside, Zalan realized that there were interesting items on the beachside. He blinked, recognizing the item that he kicked away. It was a Satiator. An Artifact with the ability to make someone feel fed for days. In a daze, he knelt down to pick it up. He swallowed, noticing how dry his throat was. Hesitating, he reached out and twisted the top of the onion-like golden Artifact.
It began to emit a golden essence into him. After a few seconds of soaking it in, Zalan breathed easier. He wasn’t thirsty anymore and felt like he had energy to continue searching for a while. The Satiator crumbled and turned to ash, the Artifact having degraded after its use. Zalan didn’t get a full Satiator, but definitely had a few days worth of nutrients in him now.
As he continued to walk up the beach, Zalan took a closer look at the items half-buried in the sand. There were Artifacts everywhere. It reminded him of the dragon’s hoard at the Castle Docrun, but with more Artifacts and less gold. In one spot there was a Wind Wand. A few steps away was a Bone Gauntlet, an Artifact with the ability to break bones. But the drawback was that wearing it would make your own body incredibly brittle.
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Zalan found several more Artifacts that he didn’t recognize. He remembered Rep warning him that he shouldn’t mess with Artifacts he wasn’t familiar with and kept a distance from them. He was suddenly reminded why the island was referred to as the Island of Remains. It was a gathering spot of several Artifacts, where water currents sent anything that drifted in the sea to its shores. Rep had explained that to him.
Thinking of Rep so often reminded Zalan of how isolated he felt. He had never gone so long without someone else in this realm. It felt wrong. Dark thoughts in the recesses of his mind wanted to climb to the surface. He didn’t realize how much having good people around him kept those thoughts at bay. He breathed deep, running his hands through his hair yet again. He grit his teeth and screamed to the sky in frustration. He wondered if anyone could hear his call. Inspired by his own thoughts, he decided to make his own kind of signal for others to approach.
Raising his hands into the sky, Zalan closed his eyes and searched. As expected, he felt the sensation necessary to call lightning from above. He pulled it down hard, bringing a thunderous crack of electricity from the sky. He zapped one of the outcroppings of stone at the edge of the beach. He did it several times, making sure that others that witnessed it would know that it wasn’t an accident. He waited, hopeful. The wind picked up. He turned to look back out to the sea, scrutinizing it for any bodies that would drift to the beach like he did. He grew impatient and the wind went wild, playing with his hair. He grit his teeth and closed his eyes, scared to be truly alone on this island.
“Zandar?” he heard someone push aside brush behind him.
Zalan’s heart leapt. He spun around and got a look. Nold rushed toward him, a growing smile on his face. Zalan took a half step back. Nold’s left shoulder and ear were covered in fresh wounds.
“You are alive!” Nold beamed. “That is incredible news! And your power remains intact!”
“What happened to you?” Zalan looked at the wrinkled red skin running up Nold’s shoulder. His ear had a similar discoloration.
“It was uhh… The shipwreck! I was thrown about the sea so violently, I took several wounds. Nothing that will not heal when I reach home,” Nold said.
“Have you seen anyone else?” Zalan asked.
Nold opened his mouth, and hesitated before speaking. He cleared his throat and shook his head.
“No, just you,” Nold said.
“What was that?” Zalan pointed to his face. “You hesitated! Did you see someone dead or something? You have to tell me, Nold! What happened to Rep?”
“Nothing!” Nold said immediately. “I just… saw some thieves looking for Artifacts on the shore, that is all. So, yes, I suppose I have seen others. But no one I think you are interested in finding.”
Zalan frowned, feeling queasy over the new information. Of all the people he was stranded with from the ship, Nold was of the least comfort. Any of the members from Captain Buttonwillow’s crew would have been better to Zalan. He sighed and nodded to Nold.
“Let us make our way to the mountain,” Nold pointed, turning toward the center of the island.
“What? Why would we go there?”
Nold spun back around, a curious look in his eye.
“This is the entire reason we came here! Morloch is in that mountain! Did you not want to confront him?” Nold asked.
“Not without Rep!” Zalan rejected. “We need to look on the beach to find him!”
“Why waste the time when you could finish the quest? For all you know he has drifted somewhere in the caverns within the mountain!”
“Waste the time?” Zalan repeated, appalled. “This is Rep we’re talking about. I don’t care about Morloch, we need to find him. Rep first, then the mountain.”
Nold looked back to the mountain, then back to Zalan. He pursed his lips and sighed, his wounded shoulder sagging significantly.
“What a negotiation. Very well, let us search for Rep,” Nold allowed, sounding annoyed.
Nold and Zalan began the trek of walking up the beach. Zalan walked briskly, taking in almost every grain of sand in search of his friend. His eyes darted frantically while Nold looked around with an almost bored gaze. Occasionally, Zalan would stare out at the sea, watching to see if bodies appeared. Nold rolled his eyes and waited for his student to satisfy himself with his search.
The minutes stretched and Zalan began to sweat as the stress grew in him. He and Nold didn’t converse and it somehow made Zalan feel even more lonely to have his mentor around. The chasm of discomfort between them made Zalan feel that he might be better off searching on his own. Zalan felt like he was walking in circles, having no idea how much distance he had made when everything looked the same on the sands.
“We really should be getting to the center of the island,” Nold mentioned.
“Nold. Shut up,” Zalan demanded.
Nold said nothing, but scoffed in disappointment. Zalan moved past one of the tall rocks on the beach and stopped in his tracks, stunned. Nold caught up and raised an eyebrow in amusement.
The beach was filled with a dozen people sifting through the sand, searching for something. Zalan took a half step forward to greet them, but was pulled back by Nold.
“Pirates,” Nold warned.
Zalan took a closer look and saw the disheveled nature of the individuals. Their clothes were torn, their hair matted, and their skin was covered in muck. They dug around the sandy beach in search of Artifacts and treasures.
“We should go around them, right?”
“Unless you wish to kill them by smiting them,” Nold said, perverse interest in his voice.
“No, we’re not killing anyone. Let’s go around…” Zalan trailed as he spotted something bound on the beach.
Captain Buttonwillow had his hands and feet tied together, lying down in the company of some pirates. He had been taken prisoner and was being watched closely by his captors.