The Call of Crows

Chapter 11: Landfall

Najeem never thought one man could be weighed down by so much water while on land. Every time he wrung his turban out, it seemed as though the water content was increasing.

The five of them had sailed straight through the monsoon, only living thanks to Vai. They'd managed to make it onto a Jambudvipi beach.

Wait. It was raining. A lot. That's why his clothes were still wet. He had been so soaked he didn't even notice it. The numbness of his skin to the sensation of tempest rains battering down on him didn't help either.

Vai pushed his boat into the cave the women had taken shelter in. Najeem followed him inside and helped push. Lokapele had created a heat source with several glowing rocks on the cusp of melting while Shakti and Shahla wrung out their clothes and dried them over a fire.

Najeem and Vai shoved the boat into the back corner of the cave.

"Now anyone who might be following us won't know where we landed." Vai sighed, "And hopefully no one finds her before I can get her back."

Najeem started wringing out his clothes inside rather than outside and let them dry near the heat, keeping only a thin white shirt and his undergarments on. The others, including the women, followed suit. But he couldn't be bothered to give a damn about modesty at this point.

"Ugh. I miss the desert. I didn't know someone could even get this wet," Najeem shook his head and sighed, "What's our plan from here?"

"We're rather close to Serrak, actually. It was my hometown." Shakti said.

"Wouldn't people recognize you?" Najeem asked.

"I'm not the one who needs to be in hiding. That's you and the princess," she said, "We can stock up on supplies and get some valuable information. The Nikan border isn't far, so we'll pretty much be running off of the information we get there in terms of what places to avoid."

"We don't have money to buy anything." Vai pointed out, "How are we going to get supplies?"

"I could steal some supplies." Najeem said.

"Najeem, those people have to make a living." Shahla said.

"And we have to save Qahtan." the Asasiyun pointed out.

"I won't condone stealing from those people." the princess asserted.

"Alright, who would you have me steal from?" Najeem asked.

Shahla took a moment before shrugging. "No one whose livelihoods would be ruined by it?"

Najeem sighed, "Fine."

"Thank you." the princess smiled pleasantly.

"Whatever." Najeem rolled his eyes. He noticed his behavior was far more casual around his liege now. But he didn't care. He liked being able to speak his mind.

"You and I are gonna figure out how all this moon stuff works with you." Lokapele said.

"...And me?" Vai asked, "What am I gonna do?"

Najeem looked at the others. No one had an answer.

"Oh, wow. Thanks." Vai muttered bitterly.

"We need food for tomorrow." Najeem said, "You could go fishing."

"If there's anything we need help with, we'll come to you straight away." Shahla promised.

"Sure." the navigator huffed.

"Everyone get some sleep tonight." Lokapele said, "We'll need strength for the journey ahead."

Najeem was the first to take her up on that. The moment his head was cradled in his arms, he fell into the deepest sleep he'd ever had.