The Great War: Chapter 38
A drifter appears, lost on the waves
As first light just begins to break, Cassie stands on her balcony overlooking the ocean with a glass of wine in hand. Even living in the comfort she has now, she still wakes as if she were working on the streets.
She takes a sip from her glass and looks around. The ships bob in the ocean lazily as a handful of sailors set about their tasks to keep their vessels seaworthy. Her eyes can’t help but stray to the Erima. A dark cloud of sorrow hangs over the ship, and not many of the crew have dared to set foot on land after their return.
Cassie knows rumor from fact, and the fact of the matter is that the old king is dead. Now the island and the war fall into the hands of the young prince Samuel, whom has been locked away within the castle ever since returning from the voyage.
She can’t help but chuckle and smirk. That boy isn’t ready to run anything, if her information is still up-to-date. The king never truly taught him how to. Knowing the Guardians, they might seize the opportunity to try and extend some sort of “peace agreement”. But whether or not that stubborn boy takes it…
Cassie runs a long fingernail along the rim of her glass, a slight frown of worry crossing her lips. While she knows a fair bit about the prince himself, she can’t make any comfortable predictions about his actions. He could either help her or become a constant thorn in her side. He could sign away all of the lives of his subjects or somehow come to an agreement where they can continue to live on in relative peace.
What am I to do with him…? she can’t help but wonder.
The sky slowly brightens as she takes another sip of her drink. The water sparkles, stretching on into the endless horizon. But a sharp glint catches her attention, a flash of light not produced by the water. Cassie has to squint to see it properly, for whatever-it-is is still far from the island, but as her eyes slowly focus on the object she can just barely make out a small icy-blue platform drifting over the waves with a dark figure slumped in the middle of it.
She turns to her balcony door and calls out, “Mitch? Mitch! Mitch, come here!”
In an instant, her aid storms through the open doorway. “What is it?”
“Look,” Cassie orders, pointing to the ocean. Mitch steps up to the balcony railing and also squints to see the distant object glowing with starlight.
“What on Astria…?” Mitch mutters aloud. “Is that… a being?”
“Go send a small boat out to investigate,” Cassie tells him.
“Are you sure?” Mitch asks, appearing worried. Cassie gives him a scowl and folds her arms as best she can. After a moment, the aid’s concern melts away, and he gives her a wordless nod before turning on his heel and leaving her alone on the balcony once more.
Cassie turns to the ocean once more, entranced by the mysterious blue object on the waves, and takes a long sip. She’ll wait until she sees the boat before making her way down to the pier. She’d very much like to meet the being on that small blue circle.
“Is this all of the ship logs?” Yumi asks, flipping through the messy stack of papers on the desk before her.
The young healer nods back. “It’s what the Harbormaster gave me.”
“Right. Thank you. You can go now.”
The healer rushes out of the office, the door opening and closing softly as Yumi is now left alone in her little windowless box. Her ears slowly droop as she shuffles through the ship logs, trying to find sense in another being’s chaos. She needs to know what ships are still out at sea, which have returned, and which might have been destroyed. Ship names, departure and arrival statuses, details of each voyage, captain names, and many more details fill the margins top to bottom, all of the space used in a way where the words blend into massive blobs of black lines.
What ships are still out there? Who are we waiting on to return? Yumi runs a hand through her hair as her eyes scan the pages. She can hear the soft moans of the injured beyond the thin walls of the office, of the healers rushing about in an effort to save as many as they can. Another ship appeared in port last night, fresh with many sick and injured, just going to show that not all of the vessels have returned yet.
The office door opens again, and Yumi raises her head. She expected there to be a healer poking their head in to relay information, but instead stands an imposing Mitch, Cassie’s right-hand. His burn scar appears to be a little redder this cycle from the few times she’s seen him, although that could be due to the light. But if he’s here, Cassie’s here, too.
“What is it?” Yumi asks sharply.
“Your presence is requested,” he replies, nodding in the direction of the open door. With a heavy sigh, the Feni stands from her desk.
Mitch follows her closely as they descend the stairs to the makeshift infirmary floor. A couple glances are cast their way as Mitch gestures to a nearby sheet that separates the patient “rooms” from the rest of the repurposed warehouse.
Yumi pulls back the sheet and steps through to find Cassie poised on a stool next to an occupied cot. The sailor-dressed boy is breathing, albeit faintly, his eyes closed. A jeweled scabbard is propped up next to his feet, yet it’s empty of a blade.
“Are you going to just stand there or are you going to care for him, darling?” Cassie asks, her eyes not once straying from the boy’s face. A flash of hot anger rushes through Yumi’s chest as she approaches the cot’s side.
Placing her hand on the boy’s arm, she’s met with the bitter cold skin of a Cryomancer. As her magic works its way across his body, she can feel a heavy void of energy within him, consistent with magic deprivation. He’s used a lot of magic in a short period of time.
“Where did he come from?” Yumi asks.
“The ocean,” Cassie replies lightly, a small chuckle of amusement escaping her lips. “Floating on a disk of ice. Passed out.”
Yumi frowns and casts the criminal a skeptical stare. Floating across the ocean on a disk of ice? No wonder he’s all spent.
“Foolish,” she grumbles. Presuming he had been found close to Korodon, if luck hadn’t been on his side he could have died so many other ways out at sea. What sort of wizard would think it wise to travel the ocean using nothing but their magic?
“He’ll live, won’t he?” Cassie asks.
“Is this an informant of yours?” Yumi fires back with a scoff.
“No. I’ve never seen this one before.”
Even if what Cassie says is true, she speaks as if she already has plans in line for this poor soul for when he wakes.
“What do you want with him?” Yumi inquires.
“Oh, many things. That is, if he lives,” Cassie hums.
“He’ll live, but I doubt he’ll be up and walking by next cycle.”
“When will he be conscious?”
“Do you plan to interrogate him?”
“Well, of course!” Cassie laughs. Yumi’s frown deepens further, to which Cassie gives her a reassuring wave of her hand. “My dear Yumi, I, too, have a vested interest in keeping Korodon safe from harm. If he were a Guardian, I’d ask for him to be turned over to the royal guard.”
Yumi can’t help but roll her eyes at the possibility of a wizard being a Guardian. They’d never allow magic users into their ranks, especially not at a time like this.
“I’d very much like to know where he came from,” Cassie continues casually, swaying back and forth on the stool like an impatient child. “Stars only know what secrets he might be holding. What do you think, Yumi?”
“He is a wizard that has been deprived of magic,” Yumi replies stiffly. “That’s all I care about.”
“He could be a plant, though,” Cassie poses. “He could be a fugitive. He could be an escaped convict. A lone survivor of a sunk ship. Royalty. A general.”
Yumi is silent. Of course she wonders if she or any of the healers under her command are helping those who might be terrible beings. Criminals, blackmailers, escaped convicts, murderers. But, as a healer it is her duty to provide care to the sick and injured, no matter who or what they are. Healers are meant to help, not hinder.
“That’s not my concern,” Yumi comments. But Cassie doesn’t seem to hear her, or maybe she doesn’t care, instead let out an unsettling giggle as her gaze remains fixed on the unknown sailor.
“He should be awake shortly,” Yumi announces, lifting her hand from his arm. “Please don’t kill him.”