0.0.1 - Salvage and Surprises

  ~

  The sound of rushing water echoed through the engine room of the ship consuming all noise with praying torrents. Jik could barely hear anything except the screaming of failing metal as the ship developed a noticeable tilt. He strode confidently back to the door, slamming his feet down to find purchase in the filthy floor that was being covered in murky water. As a knowledgeable salvager he knew how to keep his footing. Having small spikes on his leather boots helped as well. He kept his eye out for anything sellable even as he left, he always had time for making more money. Jik casually carried the sack of loot and salvaged metal objects in one hand, as if it weighed nothing. Considering his inherent strength, he might as well have been holding a cup of tea.

  “Anything else you sense?” Thought Jik, hoping for a response as the water slowly began creeping up his boots. Though he hadn’t tested it recently he could probably hold his breath for seven minutes or more. He didn’t even feel the cold of the water, which was life threatening for those with weak constitutions. He felt the voice rattle.

  Someone on the shoreside has something, but it is out of our reach.

  “A pity.” said Jik, mostly to himself before taking a moment to look back at his handy work.

  It was best to cover one’s tracks at all times. A little paranoia went a long way and he had a lot of “valuables” to show for his efforts below deck already. Jik could share and split this found wealth among himself and the crew.

  The engine core though was a different matter. They couldn’t be transported easily due to their weight and size, so he had simply been taking them himself. They would go to waste otherwise, right?. What actually happened to the ones he had been taking, or the myriad other objects that had “disappeared” over the years he couldn't really say.

  I am putting them to good use.

  Jik trusted that was the case. He made his way out of the darkness below, unhurried as water rushed in. The sloshing of his boots in the water and mixing muck kicked up a frightful amount of mud, staining his lower body with a clinging morass. The smell was horrifying, but it made it look like he had given his all to find a few more pieces of treasure.

  There was a lot that could be salvaged here for sure still…but he couldn’t let people know he had been stealing magical objects. It would raise questions. Jik had never been to the schools or academies like some but he wasn’t stupid. No one likes a thief. As he made his way to the stairs he took a quick peek, just to make sure no one was watching. Going up the stairs the ship had an even more noticeable tilt now and he dug his feet into the steps to find purchase, the wood buckling and splintering at times beneath him.

  “Cheap stairs,” he muttered. But how cheap were they really? He punched a wall sending splinters of wood into a nearby room as it broke. “IT’S UNSTABLE,” He yelled out to those he could hear moving on the deck in the process of leaving. The sack of metal and tools he was carrying were as light as a feather to him. Banging it around on the walls a few times as he made his way up really sold the “frenzied escape” he was going for. Jik laughed as he dashed above deck.

  The relative “light” of the deckside blinded his eyes for a moment causing him to blink profusely. Cargo was being ferried across the ropes now and he looked to the shoreline. He could dimly feel a commotion in that small forest in the distance past the beach. Jik made a show of dragging his sack of loot along the deck, the heavy metal scraping along as he went, before he handed it to the waiting hands of a stout man who was loading things into a small crate. The lines sagged and swayed with the wind. Though dripping with water and slime it paid to have good rope in these parts, it wasn’t a place to skimp.

  There was excitement in the air now among the crew, this doomed ship must have been on its way back after a successful outing! The topside had nets and gear ripe for the taking, boxes of salvage that had been outright stolen and transferred to the waiting hand’s of Jik’s compatriots. Another profitable venture.

  He flung himself over the side while grabbing hold of a rope and made his way back to their ship. His hands were weathered from years of this work, and gripped the ropes firmly as he pulled himself along like a monkey. Jik had always been comfortable climbing and with high places. The thrashing winds threatened to throw those climbing on the ropes into the waters below, but they were experienced among Van’s crew. No one fell.

  As Jik pulled himself over the edge of the ship he caught a glimpse of the other boat, now visibly lower than before, starting to slide off the sand bar slowly. There was a tugging feeling, as the deck of the ship he was on started to shift.

  “Cut the ropes,” yelled Captain Vans, before continuing. “A good—No, a great haul!” The ship righted itself as the ropes were cut. The lines lashing at high speed into the water throwing up a spray of filth.

  You might be reading a stolen copy. Visit Royal Road for the authentic version.

  The mood on the ship had improved tremendously compared to earlier in the day. As people poked among the treasure.

  “Musta robbed an inland area to get things this good.” Someone on the side greedily intoned. Holding up a few objects made of gold and other metals.

  “And the fools died for it.” said another poking at a strangely patterned sword. Though rusted and a bit bent, someone would be interested in it at the port.

  “We’re not stupid enough to go onto the islands.” replied Jik, as he scanned the shoreline and beaches through the fog and felt someone running through the forest. He signaled to Vans. “We need to leave, now.”

  Those nearby peered at the beach to see a figure breaking out from the trees pursued by…something. The ship began to thrum as the engine fired to life heading deeper into the waters and away from the small islands and jagged rocks. Many lined up on the side of the boat, jeering at the far off show that was unfolding. Entertainment was a bit scarce these days so they took what they could get. Jik didn’t care to watch.

  He’d never seen a solitary person win against the things that prowled the forests and waters in these parts. Most of them looked like animals but something…something was wrong with them. His mind teased out a phrase spoken in that voice’s cold grating tone;

  Spiritual drift.

  The voice never elaborated on precisely what that was. What Jik did know is those things were not to be messed with. As a young boy he had once watched a “dog” drag a grown man into the dark crevices of rocks near the piers and he had stayed well away from those monsters since. The dog had pulled that man like a doll across the rocks, breaking the man's bones from the ferocity of its hunger. The watchmen didn’t even find his clothes.

  Jik shuddered, he had a strange fear of dogs that had existed even before that incident and he didn’t know why. The jeers of the crowd brought him back to reality. Casting a glance at the crew near the sides of the ship, he could tell this was a bloody one.

  But for now, there was a much more pressing matter at hand. He had an important position when salvaging and thus had preferential rights to found treasures. To many of those who had watched him before some of his choices seemed arbitrary, neither going for obvious valuables nor things of particular rarity. As he sorted through the various pieces and junk that had been brought back he was constantly guided. The voice had always been efficient in sorting through the scrap the crew recovered.

  That one. This one, and that too. Ignore this. Take all of these.

  Jik’s practiced hands moved like lightning. Even the slightest indication he should take an object caused him to strike and squirrel it away in a new, cleaner sack that had been near the crates. The crew had never understood why he didn’t wear gloves; the metal was quite sharp after all. He grabbed a rusted blade a little too hard, snapping it. Jik looked over, but the crew was busy with a more enjoyable matter.

  In the background he could hear the jeering of the crew cursing as he scoured the pile of loot, “Conàs” “Putain” “Cabord”, but the urgency of his task was too great to even turn around. There was nothing too thrilling about seeing someone die after all, even less so being mocked as they died.

  Dimly, he was aware that what he was searching for among these objects was those possessed of the greatest density of Qi. What his other self had been doing with these objects, however, remained a mystery to him. He threw a few more objects into the sack, which was growing quite heavy before being rattled by a sudden interjection.

  That should be more than enough.

  “Enough?!” Thought Jik, “It’s never been enough for you, we've been collecting this junk for years.”

  And now it’s enough.

  Jik could feel a migraine coming on.

  “And why.” He hissed in his mind, “Is it enough now?”

  This realm won’t last much longer. Perhaps, in a few years it will even crumble. The time now has come for us to act.

  With that, Jik was stunned into silence.

  ~

  The rain fell softly on the boat as they emerged from the banks of fog into the safer waters near the shore. The slow plodding of the engine could be heard below, as they drifted along. Now at a more leisurely pace.

  The voice never elaborated on that point that had stunned Jik so and he had remained silent until they reached the docks of their lakeside town. You certainly smelled it before you could see it as always. A choking, rank, damp smell.

  Illuis.

  Many words could be used to describe it, but “rancid slow-sinking” ghetto sufficed. The lakeside had been dotted with innumerable ships and small docks ever since the treasures of this place had been discovered. There was profit to be made here, and profit was on the minds of many these days. Harvests had been failing for years due to the dim sunlight and harsh winters. What little people had went towards survival these days. This town was one of the richer places in the region and yet…

  A thin veneer of desperation covered everything in this place. The wooden docks were ill-kept, crusted in all manner of filth, moss, barnacles, and debris. The people of this place had given up on maintaining them long ago. If you looked too closely between the slats and holes you might even occasionally see human bones or the odd corpse sinking into the muck of the shore and alleys.

  It was best not to think about it too much. You could always tell who wasn’t a native of this place by if they recoiled in horror or vomited upon smelling the docks. It’s just something you got used to over time.

  As the ship slowly began the work to anchor into the shallow bay harbor of Illuis, Jik could no longer contain himself.

  “What do you mean by ‘crumble’.” Jik suddenly questioned the voice. Hoping desperately for a response that would sound less dire than ‘that’.

  Dissolution may be a better term.

  Jik imagined the harshest stare he could in his mind, drilling into his own soul, waiting for a continuance.

  It will collapse into the abyss between worlds, break down into Qi, and finally, cease to be.

  Jik was stunned a second time.

  Worry not, there are many realms. We will simply move. The Oasis of Tamehr would be a nice change of pace from the filth of this abandoned colony.

  “Wha—what happens to the people here?!” yelped Jik internally, ignoring his diatribe on this ‘Tamehr’. Whatever that was, Jik hadn’t heard of it before.

  Seeing as they are not Immortals they will die and perhaps reincarnate later if their soul has enough strength. It happens to thousands of realms. This one will be no different.

  “Everyone I know is going to die.” He asked flatly.

  Almost certainly.

  Perhaps the only reason Jik had never tried to expel…whatever this thing in him was, is that it had never seemed malicious before.

  It certainly seemed demonic now.