Howl's Twisted Castle

35: Old Port Haven

We stepped out of the swirling light and into the boggy mists of what appeared to be a town. I say this because although it looked very much like the Port Haven I had grown to love, it was completely desolate. As we walked the old cobblestone paths through the town, two things became very clear to me very quickly.

For starters, at one point this may have been a flourishing town, but I could find no signs that anyone still resided here. The houses lining the ancient streets had all but collapsed in on themselves from years of harsh elements and neglect. Where years of abandonment should have given way to the vegetation of the land, there was none. 

As we searched, what we discovered was nothing but a petrified wasteland that lacked the natural order of things; any trees that should have flourished had rotted to stumps; the flora that should have overtaken the cobblestone streets over the years was non-existent; even the birds were decidedly absent. 

It was strangely . . . odd.

The second thing I noticed as we made our way through the barren town was the overwhelming sense of dread that settled in my chest. It felt like something horrible had happened here. I knew it was just a feeling, but it was a strong one.

Alex must have sensed it as well for I could see the grim expression he was wearing as we walked. The silence was stifling, and Alex was not forthcoming with any information about our whereabouts. I was beginning to worry.

"Alex . . . where exactly are we?" I finally plucked up the courage to ask after turning onto a secondary street.

He looked over his shoulder in a curious way, as if I should have known.

"Old Port Haven," he replied without stopping, nonchalantly pointing to a rotted sign in the distance.

Old Port Haven? That meant we were still in Dunbeath. If my memory served me correctly, this place was just beyond the Stony Grove, the place where Howl's parents were buried. 

Not to mention that Maggie had warned me to stay away from this place. It was cursed. 

"Why here?"

"you'll know soon enough," was his only response, as if it could calm my unease.

Instinctively, I moved closer to Alex as we walked through the streets, keeping a watchful eye on the abandoned homes. My imagination had a way of running wild with speculation, so I did my best to convince myself that this place wasn't as haunted as it felt. The dense fog, however, did little to help my suspicions. 

In the distance, I could faintly hear the violent waves crashing and rolling off the rocks. I imagined that it was somewhere beyond the town limits, which meant we couldn't have been more than a mile away from the ocean. If Market Chipping had been settled this close to an ocean, we would have had far better prospects in terms of money than only the tourism we had. So why would a town like this, with access to the ocean so nearby, be abandoned?

"I don't understand it, is there no one living in this town?" I asked as we passed more vacant houses.

His laugh was gruff and short. "You would be hard pressed to find anyone willing to live here after what happened to this place," Alex replied over his shoulder, adjusting the satchel on his shoulder.

"So what happened?" I pressed on, annoyed with his cloak and dagger responses. 

"Everyone in Dunbeath knows the story of old Port Haven. It is, after all, the reason we're not fond of Ingarians," he said as a matter of fact, dropping the conversation once again.

If he thought this would silence me, he was sorely mistaken. I was determined to get my answer. 

"You know that reminds me! Howl mentioned that the locals didn't like Ingarians just before we came to Dunbeath, but he never explained why that was the case. Perhaps you could enlighten me?" I looked over to gauge Alex's expression, but his was a mask of indifference.