The heat from the sand radiated upwards through Gils’ buried feet. The warmth climbed up her calves, through her veins and into her still-beating heart. She was alive. The sharp edges of shells pierced her skin gently, but Gils could barely notice the pain. Her mind had taken her to the place she had left behind a decade ago. It had locked itself behind the militaristic fortitude expected from her. Her vow to herself remained yet unbroken.

Vanyn Taupe, Grimclaw’s right hand, had lashed out at the crew last night. The crew assigned to offload the goods to the fences all around Adago had drunk themselves into a stupor and couldn’t remember anything. Gils had been singled out as the only deckhand that the captain had chosen. Grimclaw had trusted her enough to join the crew in offloading the goods. The crew had noticed her finally, after three months of serving their every need as a deckhand; their stares were lucid and poisonous. They seeped in through her skin and polluted her soul, corroding her strength.

Gils felt the bruises and the wounds through her clothes. The scars on her forearms, shoulders and back stuck to the cloth, bleeding through ever so slightly.

The Sea Serpents were docked in a cave under a cliff overhang. The cave was well maintained with supplies stashed and ready to go. The makeshift harbour they built seemingly had a permanent staff incharge of its upkeep. When Gils stepped onto the harbour, they felt less like pirates or thugs and more like a purpose-built machine, whirring and alive, whose sole function was the destruction of order. She shuddered and retreated further inside her mind, collapsing at the thought of the violence such a dedicated system was meant to conduct.

On Vanyn’s orders, the other deckhands loaded the goods in several nondescript wagons, chalky brown and dull but functional. Gils’ instructions were simple. She was to ride around Mayra, the old Kirsh capital, cross the border into Lacrifah proper, meet the fence assigned to her in Puriel’s Light and return back to the Serpent’s Lair in twenty days.

Clip Clop

Clip Clop

The melody of the horse’s hooves beating against the cobblestone pathways outside Mayra was mocking Gils’ being. The melody’s carefree and intentional rhythm was so removed from Gils that they felt like they were sung by Jhudiel herself.

“Jhudiel playing favourites while we are powerless to change”, she muttered to herself, “I pray The Farmhand gives me the chance to confront her.”

Gils wanted to believe that the Heavens loved her still. For twenty-seven years, she tried to do right by her people. 

For ten years, she held out hope. 

In two months, the flames of hope were extinguished by the very seas she called home. Chekobiel’s stars no longer guided her towards her destiny, only towards her doom.

Night was fast approaching. The setting sun behind Mayra felt cautiously bright, its rays casting a dark shadow over the city walls and Gils herself. She was lucky to have only passed by traders and merchants thus far. The thought of running into a Sunwatcher sent shivers down her spine.

Gils got herself off the road. Meandering just deep enough into the trees so that she couldn’t be seen by the road. She pulled the wagon into a clearing filled with clovers, the centrepiece of the Kirsh landscape. The clearing had the scent of wet earth and fresh plants. Gils knew it must have rained recently. She spotted a four-leaf clover, the Kirshian national plant. She plucked it from the ground, hoping to always remember her true home through it.

She hitched the two horses to a nearby tree, and they began ripping through the clovers with an idle pleasure. As they ate Gils felt her stomach rumble. She lit herself a fire. The dried fish in the wagon were practically begging Gils to help herself to them. It seemed like forever since she last filled her stomach to the brim. Gils peeled back the cloth covering of the wagon, and the rancid scent of dried fish made her stumble. She wondered if the Sea Serpents had no better alternative to hide their smuggled goods. Gils stuffed herself with the dried fish. She then made herself comfortable inside the wagon, still clutching the Flying Hook in her hand like a child, and drifted off to sleep.

“If anyone is…”

Gils shifted in her slumber.

“YOU ARE TO PRESENT YOURSELF BEFORE LACRIFAH’S GUARDIANS”, a deep and upsetting voice roared.

Gils woke up from sleep, dazed and confused. The embarrassment and shame from letting her guard down in her sleep took shape in her mind.

“I’ll be right out, just give me a moment”, Gils squealed, raspy and clearly just woken up.

She made her way out of the wagon, pushing the sacks of goods aside and brushing open the cloth coverings of the wagon. The sun’s light consumed her sight. As she blinked herself awake, a figure took shape in front of the wagon. “A young man”, she thought to herself, “just a cadet.”

“Hey, soldier”, she greeted him almost mockingly, “what can I do for you?” Gils yawned and sat herself at the edge of the wagon, making sure the cloth coverings left no gaps behind her. 

The boy was wearing the orange-hued leather and chainmail uniform of the cadets of the Sunwatch battalions. “A size too big”, she thought to herself and chuckled softly. If the Sunwatchers didn’t spill the blood of her people, Gils would almost find it charming. The boy’s hands were far from the hilt of his blade, an inexperienced cadet for certain. Gils noted his openings were wide enough that she could take his life before he could react.

“Madam, you are to identify yourself before His Majesty’s Sunwatcher. Why are you hidden just across Mayra?”

Gils caught herself as her hand drifted towards her back. The Flying Hook called out to her. She breathed out slowly, relieved at just saving the boy’s life.

“Don’t stress yourself out, kid, I’m trying to save myself some coin out here”

The boy breathed out deeply and brushed his black hair. He put on a quick smile and said in a patient and calm tone, “Hello madam, do you have your merchant license for the cargo behind you?” The change in tone from his performance as a soldier to his presence as a cadet betrayed him before he knew it.

“No, I am just passing by Mayra, I’m off to deliver some dried fish to the Adventurer’s Guild as provisions. Would you like some?”

Every lie purposefully baited and crafted like a true artisan. Gils had already read the child’s duty-bound personality through his dark caramel skin.

“No ma’am. Thank you for the offer,” the boy bowed slightly as he said so. Gils’ laughter escaped her control. The boy’s Kirshian habits had caught her off guard.

“I’m sorry, it's almost unimaginable that the day we would be in Lacrifan ranks has come about.”

Gils gathered herself in a moment, then smiled as she said, “Take no offence at this old sailor’s words. Do us proud”

The boy looked sheepish but calm. His face looked tender but hollow, the mask of a soldier hiding their scars. He looked around curiously, almost searching for something. He returned his gaze back onto Gils’ before adjusting his armour as he began to speak, “Say ma’am, you couldn’t possibly be heading towards Puriel’s Light, are you?”

Gils thought for a moment; she needed the cadet to let her and the goods pass along safely. She couldn’t risk drawing attention to herself if she had to slaughter a cadet so close to town.

“Yes, I am. The Adventurer’s Guild there pays the most after all!”, she chuckled as she said it, hoping the performance would sell itself and she could focus on the task before her.

His face beamed with a smile, his straight black hair bounced as he spoke with glee, “That’s fantastic, ma’am! I've been released from the boot camp I was assigned to. I need to head back to Puriel’s Light and resume my training there. My sister has been driving me sick with mockery. Us Kirshians ought to stick together, don’t we?” 

Gils’ face dropped all the glee it held before as it morphed into bitterness. 

“There’s barely any Kirshians left.”

Gils forced out a polite smile, just wide enough to drop the boy’s guard. 

“There is no safer place than beside a Sunwatcher, isn’t there, kid. Lead the way, soldier.” Gils wondered how far she’d have to get out of town before she could safely dispose of his body.