Wet Fire

Dragonwind (E12)

Blythe

The silhouette of the Quartzhilde was beginning to vanish in the horizon as the ship moved further out to sea. Flat gray clouds covered the mid-day sun, making the air cool and the sea dark blue as Blythe's eyes. He stood on the deck, looking back to his home--the castle. A place where he had been born and had only left a handful of times. Today, and for the weeks to come, Blythe would be traveling to Aura, on the Strange Continent--a place so far and distant that even his imagination could not begin to wonder what he would encounter there.

...

In the early hours of the morning, just before the inhabitants of the city had begun to stir from their sleep, Blythe had been escorted to the Vanesa's Square, and then the Docks, a community located just south of the main gatehouse of the Castle. Together with a party of three Akauri, two servants, and Sharppe, they travelled along the barren streets on horseback. All were clothed in black cloaks with drawn hoods, so as to not draw attention and remained silent. The city was dark, only illuminated by the faint light of candles inside of the slate-roofed houses which were packed as close together as space would allow.

Few people were seen on the streets at that hour in the upper regions of the city near Vanesa's Square, a triangular, cobblestone market, which the Castle Gatehouse bordered the east side. The houses near the Square were inhabited by the wealthiest of the city, including some of the politicians and minor barons, such as the Duke and Dutchess Jonsting, or Lady Seala, who were friends to the King. Despite the dreariness of the castle, Vanesa's Square was decorated with colorful streamers, ribbons, and flags which spanned across market stalls and the tops of buildings. During the day, it would have been a lively place filled with people.

As they moved further down the Waterway, the main street that connected the Square to the Docks, more and more people were seen carried about their business. He recalled seeing a plump man in a dirty tunic, carrying a bundle of scrolls in his arms, scurrying in front of them and right into a wooden structure with a pointed tower. A woman with an enormous white bonnet on her head was strolling on the side of the road next to them for a while. It almost seemed that she was trying to see what the groups of strangers where doing, occasionally glancing up to them and frowning.

Sharppe led the company up to the Fisherman's Gate, which was the most used gate in and out of the city. Kept open only in the hours of daylight, the gate was an enormous, and made entirely of thick gray stone, with the exception of the wood and metal workings around the portcullis. Two cylindrical towers, capped with battlements, framed the main building, and connected the gate to the rest of the city's walls, which stretched far into the distance off to the left and the right. A disturbing smell drifted from beyond the gate--the Docks.

Blythe had never been to the Docks--but he had seen glimpses of it from the castle. Most of it was hidden behind Kingdom Rock, but he could still parts of it, such as the ferries and the ships that went to and from Clam Town. Clam Town was a sub-region of the Docks, and was located on a tiny island offshore of the Docks. His uncle Kade made frequent visits there before his disappearance, but for what reason Blythe did not know. Clam Town was supposedly the dirtiest and scummiest part of Cyclonus, and its smell was said to be a mixture of rotting fish and barnacle goose droppings. Luckily this trip would not take them to Clam Town--they were going to the harbor where all the Navy's ships were parked. It was nicer than Clam Town, or even the rest of the Docks, but still stank of fish, he had heard.

"Whoever is awake up there, I request that you let us pass!" Sharppe called out.

A light appreared somewhere high in the gatehouse, shining through one of the narrow arrow slits. "Who goes there--oh!" a rough voice said. A man appeared at the top, poking his helmet above one of the battlements. "Lord Sharppe! Forgive me, you may pass."