With a crack the gangplank slammed down on the dock, Ninia pushing it into place alongside another Yishk. Then Ninia got her first up close look at Tusana.

  The city was lively with activity, inebriated sailors stumbling down the docks with arms around each other in friendship, on the street just a few yards away. Whores were standing at the doorways of what must be brothels trying to lure in clientele, and surprisingly even children running around, one looked to have a stick and was hitting the others with it.

  Incredibly, it was absolutely nothing like Ninia had been anticipating. She had expected a gritty, dirty town with ramshackle bars and destitute people, but this place was positively thriving. She had heard stories of Tusana, and how it’s only for rogues and good-for-nothings, but the town that Ninia was seeing right now looked so inviting.

  Captain Alinyaln took a deep breath as he walked down the gangplank. “Six years.” He said to Ninia, waving to the town. “It’s been six years since I’ve been back here.”

  “You’re not from here, right?” Ninia asked, still trying to take in as much as she could.

  “No, I’m from Siston.” Alinyaln said with a chuckle. “But I’ve spent more than enough time here in Tusana. Really, it’s the only place in Loshbor worth visiting.”

  Ninia looked at the Captain, raising an eyebrow at the man who had a smile plastered on his face, the effect ruined by the scar running along his cheek. “You seem different.” Ninia pointed out.

  He breathed in sharply as if surprised, then turned to look at Ninia. “Different?”

  “Yes,” Ninia said, rubbing her chin. “You seem… Happy?”

  “Just looking forward to a few things is all.” He said to the lass. “Come along.” And the Captain set off, walking toward the small hut built into the dock. Ninia followed, looking up this time, seeing large wooden shafts that enclosed the main dock ports. What could those be for?

  “Oi there!” The woman in the hut said, her face covered with freckles from long days in the sun. Her hair was long and coppery red, a color not seen very often in hair, left loose around her shoulders. “Whatchu need today?”

  “Hull cleaning, a deep one.” Alinyaln said, leaning on the counter that jutted out.

  “An’ which one’s yours?” The woman asked, looking out at the dock where there were a handful of other ships docked, one arriving right now in fact.

  “The Mercy of Dradinoor. No color, blue sails, turtle flag.”

  The woman pulled out a massive ledger and began to write down the description. “An’ you are?”

  “Captain Alinyaln.”

  “Surname?”

  “I’m Sisim, we don’t use surnames.”

  “Captain Alinyaln Imsisim then.” The woman said with a flourish of her pen. “Hull cleanin’ will be 80 pieces.”

  Ninia was astounded at the price, but not nearly so much as Alinyaln was. His jaw dropped at the woman. “80 pieces? That’s robbery! Last time I was here it was 40!”

  “How long you been gone?”

  Alinyaln hesitated, then sighed. “Six years.”

  The woman nodded. “Two years back we got a new way of doin’ things. Safer, but more costly.”

  Alinyaln looked over at the docks, then nodded. “Motors?”

  “Powered by captive lightnin’ an’ all.” The woman nodded, smiling at Alinyaln. “The future!”

  He sighed, then pulled out his pouch of coins from underneath his cloak. “Since I’m in a good mood today as my protégé pointed out,” He began to count coins and then dropped them on the counter, a single gold Regin and five pewter Regins. A wealth, though Ninia wasn’t sure how much, but she knew that it was far more than the cost the woman cited. “A tip.” He said to her, then winked.

  The woman blushed but she swept the coins off of the counter. “The crew will be very grateful for these, sir.”

  Alinyaln nodded, then after the woman wrote out a receipt for him he grabbed it and waved back at her.

  “She was cute.” Ninia noted, looking back at the woman.

  “Aye, but she’s not really my type.” Alinyaln said as he read over the receipt, not fully listening.

  “No,” Ninia agreed, “But she could be mine.”

  The Captain looked at her, then laughed. “I didn’t realize that’s why you spend so much time watching Jendul!”

  Reading on this site? This novel is published elsewhere. Support the author by seeking out the original.

  Ninia blushed and looked away. “It’s not like that.”

  “Oh, but it is, lass.” Alinyaln said, putting a hand on her shoulder. “And I approve. I know in Rythmar people can be a bit… Conservative. But the rest of the world doesn’t care, lass. Remember that being who you are is important, don’t try to hide it.”

  The sadness that had crept into her heart at his words was palpable. Where was this kindness when she was growing up? Her father would certainly have never said anything of the sort to her.

  But then, the sadness turned into something else, something warmer.

  She was grateful.

  “Thank you, Captain.” She said, wiping the corner of her eye. Then she coughed, clearing her throat which had gone tight. “Where are we going?”

  “Nowhere.” Alinyaln said, then he gestured to the bench. “We have a show to watch.”

  Minutes passed, then the red haired woman exited the shack, her hair now tied back in a tail. She blew on a small whistle, the sharp sound carrying across the entire dockyard, and in a few moments a crew of ten stood around her, all of them tall with long brushes.

  Orders were delegated, then the woman who was clearly their leader stepped onto the deck of the Mercy of Dradinoor. “All on board who are leavin’ ought to leave now!” She shouted. A few Yishks were ready for this and they filed off of the ship one by one. Jendul was likely already off of the ship, sneaking off as was her habit.

  Once the woman was happy that everyone was off of the vessel, she waved to her crew. Ropes dropped down with large metal hooks on the ends, originating on the motors connected to the large hafts of wood surrounding the Mercy. One man, with darker than average skin and tightly curled hair, dove off of the dock and swam underneath the Mercy, likely connecting the ropes together by their hooks.

  Ninia held her breath, her goal to keep it held as long as the man was underwater, but even with her breathing exercises the man took longer than she could handle, climbing up out of the water and shouting something Ninia couldn’t quite make out.

  Then, slowly, the motors began to turn, the ropes coiling onto themselves on their spindles as they wound and then began to lift the massive vessel out of the green waters. A torrential downpour fell as the water that clung to the ship lost its grip then fell back to where it belongs, revealing a layer of algae and gunk from sailing. There were a fair few barnacles encrusted on the ship as well, clustering in spots.

  “Here’s where I’m a bad Captain.” Alinyaln said with a sigh, crossing one leg over the other. “This should be done about once a year, more frequently if you can manage. It’s been about two since the last cleaning.”

  “Why does it need to be done so often?” Ninia asked, staring at the ship inquisitively.

  “See those, the barnacles?” He pointed them out to her, but she had already seen them. “They cause drag on the hull of the ship, making travel less efficient. Usually it’s not noticeable unless you’re burning moscin, it’ll make the crystals burn up faster than usual and you get less distance on them overall.”

  The crew grabbed long brushes and began to clean off the layer of algae that surrounded the ship. “Why would it burn the crystals up faster, though?” Ninia asked the Captain, curious.

  “Have you ever wondered why I don’t use my quiat much?” Alinyaln asked.

  Ninia nodded. “Maybe once a month, yes. Doesn’t seem very useful if you don’t use it frequently.”

  Alinyaln nodded. “In a way, yes. I can’t use it much above water is the thing. If the moscin crystals get too hot, they burn up faster. The spikes on the quiat, and on the engines of the ship, work to spread the heat outward from the crystal housing, allowing it to cool faster and keeping the moscin at a lower temperature. It’s not possible to keep the moscin cold while it’s burning, mind you, but cooling the area around it is enough to prolong it’s lifespan.

  “Water is excellent at pulling heat. I could likely use my quiat for an hour or so underwater on a single crystal, while I would get maybe a quarter of that above water since there is no water to cool the spikes.”

  “And since the engines are underwater,” Ninia said, understanding coming to her, “They already pull heat, but the engines produce so much that going slower means less cold water will pass over the spikes.”

  “Clever lass.” Captain Alinyaln said with a nod of approval.

  “If there was a way to cool the actual crystal housing,” Ninia said, “That would improve the burn time for a crystal too, right?”

  Alinyaln shrugged. “In theory, sure.” He admitted. “But moscin burns almost too hot for the metal in the engines. It’ll turn a body to dust within moments. I’m not quite sure what metal is used in them, but it’s not steel, it’s something that can withstand the heat better.”

  Ninia considered this. “What about Cloud Crafting? Can’t it change how things behave?”

  “Cloud Crafting is… Complicated, lass.” Alinyaln shrugged. “I can’t really explain it, but I know someone who can.”

  “Letno?”

  “That lazy woman?” Alinyaln barked out a laugh. “No, someone else.”

  The ship cleaning crew, now done scrubbing the vegetation off of the ship, grabbed hammers and chisels up from their toolbelts and then began to chip at the barnacles. The sound coming off of them was unpleasant, like metal on stone.

  “They are stone.” Ninia whispered.

  Alinyaln nodded. “Aye, lass, most of what you find in the seas will create some form of stone or another, like Burian coral. I’m not sure what specific type of stone the barnacles ooze but it’ll crack the hull given time. We’ve actually been lucky so far.”

  They watched as the cleaners finished their task, then the boat descended back into the water, teetering ominously as the bilge reasserted balance for the ship as it hadn’t been set back into the water perfectly level.

  Captain Alinyaln sighed. “They do a good work, I’ll admit that.” He pointed his head into the city. “Come along, lass. There’s someone I want to see.”