Light From Above

Chapter 10

There was something about the pale man in Ren's arms that made him think of a boy on the verge of manhood. At least when he was sleeping and not so obviously in pain. 

This made him determined to find out what exactly had happened that led him to be in that massive crater. 

Ren quickened his pace as soon as he reached the shoreline where the footing was more sure. Soon he had reached the longboat that had brought him and a couple of the crew to shore. He paused just long enough to thank his lucky stars they would be leaving with the tide. 

He wanted to get well away from this island before any others might arrive looking for what had fallen from the heavens.

Ren pursed his lips and whistled sharply to summon his men from where they had been searching for their prize as well. 

The man in his arms did not shift at the loud noise. As much as that reinforced the impression of the figure being young, it was also worrying. That sharp of a noise should have made anyone at least shift if it had not woken them. It took a few moments for the crew to arrive at his side. 

After a brief command, Ren boarded the boat, keeping the stranger in his arms. Without words, the crew pushed the boat until the keel was off the sand before they rowed back to the Wind Rider as quick as they could.

The small group was met by the rail of the deck by the first mate, Pearl.

She was a dark haired lady with voluptuous curves, wearing clothes designed to highlight all her assets. At the sight of her captain with a stranger in his arms, she laughed, pale teeth flashing in the darkness of her skin. 

"Only you, Ren," she managed to say through the laughter. "Only you could manage to leave this ship looking for a hunk of metal from the sky and come back with an attractive man. Did you think that you could make him into a sword?"

"Cease your endless prattling, Missy," Ren returned with exaggerated seriousness. "I'm nut sure he is a man, but he is badly hurt. The crater I found him in makes me think while I went to find a hunk of metal, I may have returned with an angel in my arms. 

"You ready for some doctoring? I've heard you brag about your skills so often they have to be real or you've been feeding me a convincing story all these years."

"My prattling? Listen to yourself old man, you talk like a maid in love with her own voice," she complained with a grin and the ease of an argument spoken so many times it was as comfortable as a well worn shirt. 

While she spoke, she began walking toward the captain's aft cabin, guessing that was where Ren was going to direct her anyway. She had been with him long enough to know an injured guest was going to be quartered in the nicest room. Anything else would prick his honor. 

Besides if he would not insist on it, she would. 

This young man was going to need as much rest possible from what she had already seen. "I won't pass my grudge against you onto our guest. It would be cruel to him, especially since it looks like he'll have bruises everywhere given a bit of time. 

"You're sure you didn't find him with the chunk of metal you wanted, and delivered this beating yourself? Do you even know his name? He looks more exotic than me, which is quite a feat in these waters. If you keep adopting strays like this, you're going to have a crew that has all the colors of the rainbow."

Ren laughed as he stepped through the door. It was a good sized room for being aboard a ship, and filled with such luxuries as soft pillows, lamps, and decorations of gold and silver. Stretched beneath the large paned glass window was the biggest bed that he could manage to fit. 

Pearl rolled her eyes at the sight of the luxury, just as she always did, and watched as the captain lay the stranger on the bed. One eyebrow raised toward her hairline when the man sighed while shifting out of the light of the morning sun. 

"Uh, Ren, does his hair look like it's glowing to you?" she asked carefully, moving to start her examination.

"He is pale and it is darker in here than it is on the deck. Maybe it is just a trick of the light," Ren mused. In a single motion, he sat by the stranger's head and started to play with the silvery locks. 

"You know, like when you are out on the deck at night and we lose you until you smile? Your skin just absorbs the light and you disappear. He just seems to glow in the dark because he's so pale."

Pearl immediately punched Ren in the arm, offended at his statement. "That is not what I meant and you know it. And I don't disappear on the deck, you are just too blind to see me sometimes. Honestly, sometimes it amazes me that you are able to see the world in front of you when walking down the shore," she complained. 

Her hands were confident as she opened the stranger's shirt to show finely chiseled muscles. Dark bruises were already spreading across his ribs, looking like someone had spilled ink on his pale skin. 

"Do you still have the cream I made you last time you hurt yourself on the rigging?"

Ren nodded, heading to where a heavy trunk lay nestled against the wall of the cabin. He rummaged through it seaching for the container of cream when he heard a startled gasp come from his mate. 

Immediately he spun around, hand instinctively going to the knife at his belt. His first thought was that they had been followed by someone when they had rowed back out to the ship. 

Instead, he saw a soft silvery glow coming from the man on the bed. Pearl was back pedaling away from the bed, eyes wide with what looked like either fear or astonishment. 

Possibly it was a bit of both. 

"I told you he was glowing," she whispered, voice quieter than he had ever heard it in the past. 

This was unbelievable. 

First the man had fallen from the heavens. And now he was glowing. He had started calling the stranger Angel as a joke. But now? He was almost positive the figure was one.

Ren dropped his hand from the knife and moved back to the bedside as though in a dream. Astonishment overtook him as he saw the bruises fade before his very eyes. 

"Um, Pearl? I think he is a better healer than you have ever bragged about being," he blurted, feeling the need to something, anything to break the tension filling the air of the cabin.

"I don't think you found a human, captain," she murmured, sounding withdrawn. 

It was likely that if he did not break her thoughts soon, she would fall into prayer. Then he wouldn't get a word from her until hours later. Then she would demand they go to the nearst temple dedicated to the Sun and Moon.

"I already told you I found an angel injured when he fell to the ground," he returned with a smile, nudging her with his shoulder. 

"You want to go set us a course toward Pearla Lustra? We need to get away from this island before anyone else comes looking for star metal like we did. I don't want to risk any fights while I have an injured, glowing man in my cabin." 

She nodded and left the cabin without looking back.