Eventually, it did get light, then dark again. Theonis kept drifting in and out of consciousness, unable to tell exactly how quickly time was passing. At one point he opened his eyes and it was light again. How long had he been there, floating on his back in the water?

This couldn’t last forever. Eventually, Theonis would drown. If he didn’t starve first. If he didn’t die of thirst. If a bunch of sharks didn’t find him. No matter what, he was going to die here. The thought should have been like a dagger to the heart, but he was just so tired.

His lips were parched. Theonis tried licking them, but his tongue was so dry. Everything felt heavy. He closed his eyes. A short nap would do him good. He could panic when he woke up. If he woke up. At this point, it was a little hard to care one way or the other.

In his half-conscious state, Theonis wasn’t sure if he was dreaming. It felt like he was being hauled up. There was a lot of jerky movement and then suddenly he was lying down. It got too difficult to hold onto the waking world and Theonis relaxed.

When he awoke, Theonis was lying in a bed with a blanket over him, light pouring in through a porthole. He couldn’t move. His throat was so parched that he couldn’t even speak. Where was he? This couldn’t be the afterlife; it would either be far better or far worse if that were the case. The room was simple, with a dresser as the only other furniture.

After what felt like an hour, the door to the room opened and a woman in simple clothes and long hair entered. She definitely wasn’t a pirate. Seeing that Theonis was awake, she jumped a little. Once she had collected herself, the stranger cleared her throat.

“You’re awake,” she said. “That’s good. I’ll bring someone to see you.”

She didn’t return, but when the door opened again three new people entered the room. One of them, a portly man with a piercing gaze, walked up to the bed. He was holding a small pitcher filled with something that sloshed about.

“Hello,” he said gruffly. “I’m Captain Markis. You’re on my ship, the Polaia. I’m glad you’re alright. Sip this. You need water.”

Theonis did as he was told. The water was cold, but it was divine. He must have drunk the container dry before the captain removed it.

“I’ll see to it that someone brings you something to eat,” the captain said. “Until then, get some rest.” He turned to the other man who had come in with him. “Don’t talk his ear off, alright?”

The captain left Theonis in the care of the other man and woman. The woman, about Theonis’ own age with long bushy brown hair tied behind her head and eyes every color of the rainbow, knelt down and held up her hands. They started to glow with a yellow aura, and Theonis tried to scramble back.

She was a mage! He’d heard of mages from pirates in the tavern. They were fierce warriors who could tear people in half with the power of their mind. Theonis tried to get away, despite how sore he was, but the tall lean man with a long brown beard and thinning hair placed his hands on Theonis and forced him back down.

“Relax, boy,” he said. “She just needs to heal your wounds. You were out there a long time.”

Theonis was still breathing heavily as the mage waved her hands over his body, but he did start to feel better very quickly. After a minute, he had managed to calm down and relax.

The bearded man said, “My name is Dimileios. Will you give me your name?”

“Theonis,” he croaked in reply.

“It’s nice to meet you, Theonis. I’m the sponsor of an adventuring party. We have a contract with the capital to search for ancient ruins and magical artifacts that are scattered across the archipelago. We’re currently on our way toward an expedition now, in fact.”

Theonis knit his brow in confusion.

“What are ruins?” he asked.

Dimileios and the woman exchanged a glance.

“Ruins are buildings that have been abandoned for so long that they’ve started to be reclaimed by nature,” he explained. “These ruins are left over from Ancient Apositus, so they’ve been abandoned for nearly a thousand years.”

Theonis nodded. He didn’t know what Ancient Apositus was, but he’d seen abandoned buildings that were falling apart before.

“There,” the mage said, pulling her hands away and standing up. “You should feel better after a little while.”

Dimileios nodded and continued, “I promise you, Theonis, that once we’re done with our current expedition we’ll take you somewhere safe so you can make your way back home.”

Theonis nodded. All he wanted to do was get back to his village and get revenge on Yoris. That bastard was going to pay for nearly killing him.

By that evening, Theonis was feeling well enough to walk around. He got dressed in the spare clothes that had been left for him and started looking around for the canteen. Eventually he just asked one of the crew, who was on his own way there and seemed happy to escort Theonis.

The place was busy, but Theonis spotted Dimileios and the mage sitting at a table with a group of other people. Dimileios also spotted him and waved him over. Theonis grabbed a plate and made his way over to the table.

“I’m glad to see that you’re doing well,” Dimileios said. “Sit down and eat. You need to get your strength back.”

“Thank you,” Theonis muttered, sitting down with his plate and tankard of ale. It felt like everyone’s eyes were on him. Everyone except for the mage.

Dimileios addressed the rest of the table, “This is Theonis. He’s the one that the crew pulled from the water this morning. Thanks to Myrova, he’s made a full recovery already.”

Myrova, the mage with rainbow eyes, glanced over at Theonis but didn’t say anything.

Dimileios continued, explaining to Theonis, “This is the adventuring party I’ve collected for myself. You already know Myrova, of course.”

“I help the party however I can,” Myrova said simply.

Dimileios pointed at a chubby woman with a crooked nose.

“This is Satiria,” he said. “She’s the team researcher. Satiria is responsible for finding new locations for us to explore and often uses expeditions to collect information on the Ancient Apositans and their culture.” Next was a short man with eyeglasses. “This is Kosgoris, our survivalist. He’s responsible for making sure that we’re taken care of on our expeditions. Food, shelter, first aid: they’re all on his shoulders.” A lanky man with a shaved head was mostly ignoring his food to read a map that was spread out across the table. “That is Lias, our cartographer.”

“Nice to meet you,” Lias said without looking up.

The last member of the group was a woman with long light brown hair. Her skin was so pale by comparison to everyone else’s that it could be called white. She also had one green eye and one brown eye, and was glaring at Theonis like she had a problem with him.

“Last is Kateni,” Dimileios said. “She’s our dedicated guard.”

Kateni grunted and said, “I keep them safe from cutthroats and predatory animals.”

Theonis nodded. He didn’t need to know all their names. It wasn’t like he was going to be working with them. They were certainly a very eclectic bunch; he’d give them that much.

“So,” Satiria, the researcher with a crooked nose, said, “what happened to you, Theonis? How did you end up floating in the water?”

“I fell overboard,” Theonis said quietly. “I was on a ship for the first time and I just wasn’t careful.”

“They didn’t try to rescue you?”

“It was the middle of the night. I was on watch and got careless. Nobody saw me go over.”

“That’s terrible,” Satiria said. “Where are you from?”

“It’s a small island called Stemini,” he replied.

Satiria dropped her fork and it clattered on her plate.

“Stemini?” she asked. “Did I hear that correctly?”

Everyone was watching now. Slowly, Theonis nodded.

The short man, Kosgoris the survivalist, asked, “What does that mean, Satiria?”

“Stemini is the name of the fabled pirate island,” she said quietly. Then she stood and declared, “I need to go,” before quickly walking off. She’d left her plate of food half-eaten on the table.

After another moment, Kosgoris got up and chased after Satiria. Everyone else stayed in their seats. After a moment, they continued eating.

Theonis could feel everyone’s eyes on him as he continued his meal. Part of him just wanted to give up and walk away too, but his stomach was empty and he needed to eat something. Eventually, conversation did start up again, but nobody talked to Theonis after that.

At least the food was better than what Theonis had been getting on the Kikikleio. He finished his meal quietly and returned his plate. Now full, Theonis left the canteen and returned to his room to get some more rest.

Theonis ate alone the next day. Following that, he decided that he needed some fresh air. Theonis made his way up to the deck. Several crew members were out and about working. He was so grateful that he wasn’t being asked to do any of that work anymore.

The crew of the Polaia was a lot more varied than the crew on the Kikikleio had been. There were different ways of dressing, with clothing in different styles and colors. Some people had lighter or darker skin than Theonis’ regular olive complexion. And not everyone’s hair was cut as short as Theonis’ was. It was actually kind of a refreshing change of pace. Was the whole outside world really so diverse?

He leaned against the railing and stared out over the ocean. There was an island out there on the horizon, but otherwise it was a flat table as far as Theonis could see. His home was somewhere out there. He couldn’t wait to get back. His mother was going to be so worried about him. Theonis needed to get back to her, to assure her that he was okay.

“Hello there.” The portly captain had walked up and fixed his piercing gaze on Theonis. “Can we talk for a moment?”

“Have I done something wrong?” Theonis asked, suddenly worried.

“I don’t believe so,” Captain Markis said. “One of the adventurers told me that you were a pirate before we found you. Is that true?”

“I wasn’t actually a pirate,” Theonis insisted, fidgeting nervously. “I just grew up in a pirate village. I hadn’t actually served on a pirate ship before. I’ve never plundered a ship or attacked anybody, I swear.”

The captain nodded slowly.

“Well, that’s good to hear,” he said, but Theonis could detect a bit of hesitation.

“You’re not going to get rid of me, are you?” Theonis asked.

“Of course not, boy. But news is going to spread through the crew and that’s going to make people a little nervous.”

Someone cleared their throat and the two turned to see a tall man with a long brown beard.

“Can I speak with Theonis?” Dimileios asked Captain Markis.

The captain nodded and stepped away. Dimileios came to stand next to Theonis and rested his arms on the railing.

“I want to make you an offer,” he said. “Join the expedition when we arrive on the island. It’s a better alternative to waiting for us to return on the ship with nothing else to do. An extra pair of hands on the trip will make the work go faster and you’ll be back home sooner than later.”

“What do I get in return?” Theonis asked.

“We were planning to simply take you to port when we arrived back at the capital and leave you there to find your own way home. If you come with us, I will tell Captain Markis to take you directly home instead.”

“Are you sure he’ll do that?” Theonis asked. “It’s the ‘fabled pirate island,’ after all.”

“I will convince him. Don’t you worry.”

Theonis was tempted. The prospect of going on an adventure was tantalizing. He’d never gone on an adventure before. He’d get to see these ruins that Dimileios had told him about. It would be quite a story to tell everyone when he got home, if nothing else. Plus, it would get him home faster.

“I’ll do it if you swear to me that you will really take me straight home afterward,” he said.

“I swear to you, Theonis: if you help the team out with the expedition, this ship will personally escort you back home once we’ve finished reporting our findings.”

“Then you have a deal,” Theonis said.

Dimileios held out his hand and Theonis shook it.

“Make sure to talk to Captain Markis about getting more spare clothes for the trip,” Dimileios said. “I’m sure that some crew members will be willing to share.”

He left and Theonis returned his attention to the ocean. It was starting to sink in that being on a ship could actually be relaxing when he wasn’t being ordered around all the time. He was planning on enjoying it as much as he could before he had to go home.

A bird passed overhead. Theonis just barely had enough time to get a good look at it before it was off in the distance. It had been a homecoming swift. Theonis wondered if it was heading toward or away from Stemini. Not that it mattered. Either way, it would eventually return to the island and make its nest there.

“I’m going to make it home too,” he vowed.

QuillRabbit

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