Adira - Epilogue
“I don’t know if I can go on,” she said, almost to herself.
“Meow?” Ivory looked up at her inquiringly.
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, scratching behind the cat’s ears. “I’m afraid I can no longer be trusted. I thought I was doing the right thing, but everything was twisted in on itself and it turned out I was just complicating things and making a mess of it all.” She shook her head and sighed, turning away. “I just need some time . . . I need space, I need to think.”
The ship they were on, Belle Ferre, was a merchant ship. Currently she was traveling the relatively short distance between two islands – Adira had visited neither prior to her current sojourn. She found it hard to care. It had been two months since the whole Rikkla thing, but time and distance had done nothing to bring peace.
Traveling from island to island, never staying any longer than it took to find passage away, traveling under disguise and avoiding anyone who might recognize her – she’d fallen into the familiar pattern of flight. But this time her troubles were not the kind that could be outrun. The turmoil of the past overcame her wherever she went.
“We’ll be stopping here to resupply, then leaving again in two days – if you want to continue to travel with us, you would be quite welcome.”
Adira looked around the tiny port; there were hardly any ships but fishing vessels, and somehow she doubted anything would be leaving sooner than Belle. Besides, she’d grown to like the captain of Belle Ferre. Some ships she’d been glad to get away from, but Belle felt likely to join the ranks of the few that she’d been reluctant to part from.
“I’ll be glad to continue traveling with you, thanks.”
“Just be back here afore we leave; I can’t delay too long for you or we’ll miss the tide.”
“Of course. I’ll be here.”
They parted; the captain to see to his ship, Adira to wander through the town – it could hardly be called a city.
She’d left her equipment stowed in the ship: she never used it anymore and preferred to be thought of as a common traveler, not a skilled fighter. While she could likely get free passage on any number of ships by taking a position with their hired defence, or even as a windmage, she preferred to travel unnoticed and she could easily afford the fares.
She passed a number of trading establishments before finding an inn. She retired early, uninterested in learning anything about the town. It was a stopping point – nothing more.
The stay on the island was uneventful, and their departure equally trouble-free. It wasn’t until they were three days out that there was any disruption. Belle Ferre was passing a tiny island, or a large rock depending on how you look at things, when two pirate ships charged out of hiding and surrounded them. Belle was a small ship, not heavily armed, and caught completely off guard.
Fortunately for Adira and Belle Ferre, these particular pirates, while effective enough, didn’t have any particularly strong mages aboard. They were, in fact, somewhat looked down upon by most other pirates, as their only strategy involved ambushing ships that any real pirates wouldn’t have even looked twice at. Still, they would have posed a significant threat to Belle were it not for Adira’s presence.
Belle’s captain immediately called the crew to arms.
“You’d best be getting’ below,” he called to Adira, “Looks like we’re in for a fight!”
She started toward the hold, took a deep breath, then turned back. “I can help!”
“I appreciate the thought, lass, but you don’t want to get in the way of this.”
Adira conjured a large ball of fire in each hand. “I can help.”
The captain stared at her in shock for a moment, then nodded and grinned. “More than meets the eye, eh? Go to it.”
Adira complied, hurling the two fire orbs at the nearer pirate vessel. One missed, fizzing out in the water, but the second landed a hit, scorching the side of the ship and setting it to smoldering. The pirates began running about, several bringing up bows and aiming at her while others scrambled to get ropes over the side to go smother the fire. The second pirate ship came in from behind, their windworker forcing Belle into an artificial calm.
“We’ve lost wind, captain!”
“Ready your weapons, men! They’re coming!”
The enemy ships closed in. The first volley of arrows flew across the rapidly-closing gap, followed closely by grapples. Adira ducked behind the mast until the arrows ceased, then darted over to the side to help cut the grapple lines before they were pulled close enough for the pirates to board. She cursed that she didn’t have her blades with her – she could have made quick work of the grapple lines with those. Instead she earth-enhanced her blade – slightly elongating and sharpening its edge – and began slashing through them. Several other crew members rushed to help. Soon the grapples were repelled, though the ships had been pulled much closer together now.
The second ship launched their own grapples as the first ship continued to move closer, then another wave from the first ship. The defenders rushed to remove them, but another volley of arrows kept them down until the ships were close enough that it hardly mattered.
Adira saw the futility and ceased slashing the ropes, instead rallying the defenders to prepare to repel boarders. She spent the rest of the time before the ships finished closing in throwing fire orbs as rapidly as she could at the enemy ships. The one ship’s windworker was able to deflect several, knocking them away from the sails and into the water, but three got past him to land on the deck of the ship. The other ship was defenceless. Several archers got off retaliatory shots, but all seven fire orbs hit their marks. The sails burst into flame, as did several spots on the deck, sending most of the pirates scurrying to put them out. Adira leaned against the mast a moment; the effort of casting so rapidly was wearying.
She wished again that she’d kept her equipment with her; she hadn’t been expecting a battle. Thus far she’d managed to travel with only low-profile ships, and piracy wasn’t exactly common in these areas even so.
Adira considered rushing to the front, but with only a knife she’d likely just be in the way. Suddenly a thought struck her. She went to the rail nearest the less-on-fire pirate ship and blasted a hole in the side of it with an earth orb, well above the waterline, then focused within it and started conjuring as much water as she could. She envisioned the orb within the hold growing and expanding as it flowed through from wherever it was summoned stuff came from.
She kept pulling more water in, ignoring the battle going on around her until an arrow struck her in the shoulder. She dropped to the deck and released her spell, hoping she’d done enough, and set about removing the arrow.
A moment later her success was confirmed – the pirate ship abruptly dropped several feet as the weight of the water in the hold dragged it down. The hole in the side, no longer above the waterline, began allowing even more water in. The pirates already aboard Belle Ferre didn’t stop fighting, but those on the sinking ship stopped preparing to attack and instead began lowering boats and abandoning the ship, while others merely dove off into the water and swam for shore.
Adira finished roughly bandaging herself and stood cautiously to survey the battle. Hardly any pirates had boarded from the other ship, though they seemed to be getting the fires under control. Now that the windmage was distracted or dead, the wind returned in force. The fight on the deck seemed to be going well, so she turned her attention to crippling the remaining enemy ship before they joined the fight. She had to be careful, though; she’d already exerted heavily twice and was getting to the end of her strength.
I need to think of something!
She glanced at the remaining pirate ship, assessing it more closely. The fires were almost all out, but the returning wind had flared the smoldering sails back into flame. They would have to take down the sail before the fire spread to the mast, which meant they would remain distracted at least a little longer.
“Captain!” she shouted, “We have to get out of here!”
He glanced up at her, deflecting a sword-stroke from the pirate he fought. “I’m a little busy, lass.”
“There’s not much time! Where’s the helmsman?”
“Dead.” He parried another strike, but while he was distracted by the conversation his foe had drawn a knife. The pirate lunged.
“Look out!” Adira hurled an orb of rock at the man’s head, but in her weakened state her aim was off. It hit his left arm forcefully, making him drop the knife, but he recovered quickly enough to dodge the captain’s next blow. They closed again, slashing and clanging at each other. Adira saw another crewmember running over to help the captain, so she turned her attention to the fight on deck. The few remaining pirates saw that no aid was forthcoming, and dove over the sides. She glanced back at the captain. With the other man’s help, he’d finished off his foe and was now running for the wheel, shouting orders as he went.
Adira moved to the rail, prepared to throw more fire at the other ship if looked like they would recover in time to attack, but her worries were unfounded. The crew of Belle Ferre were quick. They sailed out from between the ships and away, the smoke still visible behind them.
“Well, lass, I don’t know how to thank you,” the captain said, once they were well away, “If it weren’t for you, well, we’d likely never have been seen again.”
“I don’t know,” said Adira, blushing slightly at his praise, “Your men aren’t that bad.”
“Not that bad?” He shook his head. “I think you’re really underestimating yourself. You have a gift for magic.”
“A gift?” Adira stared out at the sea. “More like a curse,” she muttered bitterly.
“What? How can you think that after what you just did?”
“Yes, I destroyed one ship, and almost another.”
“But only to save our lives.” He looked at her carefully a moment, until she noticed his scrutiny and turned away.
“What’s wrong, lass?” he asked softly, “What happened that you should think this way?”
“I...” she hesitated, took a deep breath. “Magic can be treacherous. So many people misuse it for their own power and I . . . it’s so hard to tell what’s right, and what isn’t.”
“Defending yourself from pirates isn’t wrong.”
“It’s not that, not entirely, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Lass, you can’t hide from the world.”
“I can.”
“But you shouldn’t!” He sighed and continued, “I know I’m in no position to judge you, but what you did back there saved all our lives. And, pardon my bluntness, but there are a lot more people out there who are in danger. You could be a great hero, if you didn’t insist on moping about in the hold and never talking to anyone.”
Adira opened her mouth to retort, but blinked as his words hit her. A hero. She turned away, fighting back tears.
“Don’t you think you’ve been hiding away long enough?” the captain pressed.
Long enough. But what if I’m tempted again? What if I end up hurting more than I help, again? How can I even trust myself at all? And yet . . .
He is right; there’s a whole world full of people in danger, and far too few willing to take it upon themselves to help. But I might fail again.
But no one is perfect. And if it weren’t for what I did, Belle Ferre and all its crew would be dead or slaves now. How many more people out there could I save if I just stopped moping and started helping? How many unnecessary deaths could I prevent if I just set out to do it?
‘You could be a great hero.’ Just like I’d always dreamed.
“Lass? Are you crying?”
“I’m okay. And, you’re right. I can’t stop helping people just because I failed once. I can’t spend my life hiding and running.”
He smiled and nodded. “I’m glad. And I'm sure you'll be able to make quite a difference in the world.”
“So, when do we make port?”
Newly determined, Adira left Belle Ferre at their next stop. She set out, Ivory at her side, to see what adventures awaited her next . . .
“Meow?” Ivory looked up at her inquiringly.
“It’s hard to explain,” she said, scratching behind the cat’s ears. “I’m afraid I can no longer be trusted. I thought I was doing the right thing, but everything was twisted in on itself and it turned out I was just complicating things and making a mess of it all.” She shook her head and sighed, turning away. “I just need some time . . . I need space, I need to think.”
The ship they were on, Belle Ferre, was a merchant ship. Currently she was traveling the relatively short distance between two islands – Adira had visited neither prior to her current sojourn. She found it hard to care. It had been two months since the whole Rikkla thing, but time and distance had done nothing to bring peace.
Traveling from island to island, never staying any longer than it took to find passage away, traveling under disguise and avoiding anyone who might recognize her – she’d fallen into the familiar pattern of flight. But this time her troubles were not the kind that could be outrun. The turmoil of the past overcame her wherever she went.
“We’ll be stopping here to resupply, then leaving again in two days – if you want to continue to travel with us, you would be quite welcome.”
Adira looked around the tiny port; there were hardly any ships but fishing vessels, and somehow she doubted anything would be leaving sooner than Belle. Besides, she’d grown to like the captain of Belle Ferre. Some ships she’d been glad to get away from, but Belle felt likely to join the ranks of the few that she’d been reluctant to part from.
“I’ll be glad to continue traveling with you, thanks.”
“Just be back here afore we leave; I can’t delay too long for you or we’ll miss the tide.”
“Of course. I’ll be here.”
They parted; the captain to see to his ship, Adira to wander through the town – it could hardly be called a city.
She’d left her equipment stowed in the ship: she never used it anymore and preferred to be thought of as a common traveler, not a skilled fighter. While she could likely get free passage on any number of ships by taking a position with their hired defence, or even as a windmage, she preferred to travel unnoticed and she could easily afford the fares.
She passed a number of trading establishments before finding an inn. She retired early, uninterested in learning anything about the town. It was a stopping point – nothing more.
The stay on the island was uneventful, and their departure equally trouble-free. It wasn’t until they were three days out that there was any disruption. Belle Ferre was passing a tiny island, or a large rock depending on how you look at things, when two pirate ships charged out of hiding and surrounded them. Belle was a small ship, not heavily armed, and caught completely off guard.
Fortunately for Adira and Belle Ferre, these particular pirates, while effective enough, didn’t have any particularly strong mages aboard. They were, in fact, somewhat looked down upon by most other pirates, as their only strategy involved ambushing ships that any real pirates wouldn’t have even looked twice at. Still, they would have posed a significant threat to Belle were it not for Adira’s presence.
Belle’s captain immediately called the crew to arms.
“You’d best be getting’ below,” he called to Adira, “Looks like we’re in for a fight!”
She started toward the hold, took a deep breath, then turned back. “I can help!”
“I appreciate the thought, lass, but you don’t want to get in the way of this.”
Adira conjured a large ball of fire in each hand. “I can help.”
The captain stared at her in shock for a moment, then nodded and grinned. “More than meets the eye, eh? Go to it.”
Adira complied, hurling the two fire orbs at the nearer pirate vessel. One missed, fizzing out in the water, but the second landed a hit, scorching the side of the ship and setting it to smoldering. The pirates began running about, several bringing up bows and aiming at her while others scrambled to get ropes over the side to go smother the fire. The second pirate ship came in from behind, their windworker forcing Belle into an artificial calm.
“We’ve lost wind, captain!”
“Ready your weapons, men! They’re coming!”
The enemy ships closed in. The first volley of arrows flew across the rapidly-closing gap, followed closely by grapples. Adira ducked behind the mast until the arrows ceased, then darted over to the side to help cut the grapple lines before they were pulled close enough for the pirates to board. She cursed that she didn’t have her blades with her – she could have made quick work of the grapple lines with those. Instead she earth-enhanced her blade – slightly elongating and sharpening its edge – and began slashing through them. Several other crew members rushed to help. Soon the grapples were repelled, though the ships had been pulled much closer together now.
The second ship launched their own grapples as the first ship continued to move closer, then another wave from the first ship. The defenders rushed to remove them, but another volley of arrows kept them down until the ships were close enough that it hardly mattered.
Adira saw the futility and ceased slashing the ropes, instead rallying the defenders to prepare to repel boarders. She spent the rest of the time before the ships finished closing in throwing fire orbs as rapidly as she could at the enemy ships. The one ship’s windworker was able to deflect several, knocking them away from the sails and into the water, but three got past him to land on the deck of the ship. The other ship was defenceless. Several archers got off retaliatory shots, but all seven fire orbs hit their marks. The sails burst into flame, as did several spots on the deck, sending most of the pirates scurrying to put them out. Adira leaned against the mast a moment; the effort of casting so rapidly was wearying.
She wished again that she’d kept her equipment with her; she hadn’t been expecting a battle. Thus far she’d managed to travel with only low-profile ships, and piracy wasn’t exactly common in these areas even so.
Adira considered rushing to the front, but with only a knife she’d likely just be in the way. Suddenly a thought struck her. She went to the rail nearest the less-on-fire pirate ship and blasted a hole in the side of it with an earth orb, well above the waterline, then focused within it and started conjuring as much water as she could. She envisioned the orb within the hold growing and expanding as it flowed through from wherever it was summoned stuff came from.
She kept pulling more water in, ignoring the battle going on around her until an arrow struck her in the shoulder. She dropped to the deck and released her spell, hoping she’d done enough, and set about removing the arrow.
A moment later her success was confirmed – the pirate ship abruptly dropped several feet as the weight of the water in the hold dragged it down. The hole in the side, no longer above the waterline, began allowing even more water in. The pirates already aboard Belle Ferre didn’t stop fighting, but those on the sinking ship stopped preparing to attack and instead began lowering boats and abandoning the ship, while others merely dove off into the water and swam for shore.
Adira finished roughly bandaging herself and stood cautiously to survey the battle. Hardly any pirates had boarded from the other ship, though they seemed to be getting the fires under control. Now that the windmage was distracted or dead, the wind returned in force. The fight on the deck seemed to be going well, so she turned her attention to crippling the remaining enemy ship before they joined the fight. She had to be careful, though; she’d already exerted heavily twice and was getting to the end of her strength.
I need to think of something!
She glanced at the remaining pirate ship, assessing it more closely. The fires were almost all out, but the returning wind had flared the smoldering sails back into flame. They would have to take down the sail before the fire spread to the mast, which meant they would remain distracted at least a little longer.
“Captain!” she shouted, “We have to get out of here!”
He glanced up at her, deflecting a sword-stroke from the pirate he fought. “I’m a little busy, lass.”
“There’s not much time! Where’s the helmsman?”
“Dead.” He parried another strike, but while he was distracted by the conversation his foe had drawn a knife. The pirate lunged.
“Look out!” Adira hurled an orb of rock at the man’s head, but in her weakened state her aim was off. It hit his left arm forcefully, making him drop the knife, but he recovered quickly enough to dodge the captain’s next blow. They closed again, slashing and clanging at each other. Adira saw another crewmember running over to help the captain, so she turned her attention to the fight on deck. The few remaining pirates saw that no aid was forthcoming, and dove over the sides. She glanced back at the captain. With the other man’s help, he’d finished off his foe and was now running for the wheel, shouting orders as he went.
Adira moved to the rail, prepared to throw more fire at the other ship if looked like they would recover in time to attack, but her worries were unfounded. The crew of Belle Ferre were quick. They sailed out from between the ships and away, the smoke still visible behind them.
“Well, lass, I don’t know how to thank you,” the captain said, once they were well away, “If it weren’t for you, well, we’d likely never have been seen again.”
“I don’t know,” said Adira, blushing slightly at his praise, “Your men aren’t that bad.”
“Not that bad?” He shook his head. “I think you’re really underestimating yourself. You have a gift for magic.”
“A gift?” Adira stared out at the sea. “More like a curse,” she muttered bitterly.
“What? How can you think that after what you just did?”
“Yes, I destroyed one ship, and almost another.”
“But only to save our lives.” He looked at her carefully a moment, until she noticed his scrutiny and turned away.
“What’s wrong, lass?” he asked softly, “What happened that you should think this way?”
“I...” she hesitated, took a deep breath. “Magic can be treacherous. So many people misuse it for their own power and I . . . it’s so hard to tell what’s right, and what isn’t.”
“Defending yourself from pirates isn’t wrong.”
“It’s not that, not entirely, but I don’t want to talk about it.”
“Lass, you can’t hide from the world.”
“I can.”
“But you shouldn’t!” He sighed and continued, “I know I’m in no position to judge you, but what you did back there saved all our lives. And, pardon my bluntness, but there are a lot more people out there who are in danger. You could be a great hero, if you didn’t insist on moping about in the hold and never talking to anyone.”
Adira opened her mouth to retort, but blinked as his words hit her. A hero. She turned away, fighting back tears.
“Don’t you think you’ve been hiding away long enough?” the captain pressed.
Long enough. But what if I’m tempted again? What if I end up hurting more than I help, again? How can I even trust myself at all? And yet . . .
He is right; there’s a whole world full of people in danger, and far too few willing to take it upon themselves to help. But I might fail again.
But no one is perfect. And if it weren’t for what I did, Belle Ferre and all its crew would be dead or slaves now. How many more people out there could I save if I just stopped moping and started helping? How many unnecessary deaths could I prevent if I just set out to do it?
‘You could be a great hero.’ Just like I’d always dreamed.
“Lass? Are you crying?”
“I’m okay. And, you’re right. I can’t stop helping people just because I failed once. I can’t spend my life hiding and running.”
He smiled and nodded. “I’m glad. And I'm sure you'll be able to make quite a difference in the world.”
“So, when do we make port?”
Newly determined, Adira left Belle Ferre at their next stop. She set out, Ivory at her side, to see what adventures awaited her next . . .