As Cobal spent most of his time lost in thoughts, with far too much to process about different aspects of his life that were very quickly unraveling into something out of his control, he put his efforts into training his sword fighting. He’d picked up many different pieces of advice over the past year and he was still working on consolidating all of that into his own style. He had all but abandoned the swordplay he learned at the palace, which was focused on being a commander in a war with soldiers around him protecting him at all times, and instead was much more focused on the sort of fighting the elves would use to deal with wild beasts that came too close, or some of the chaotic but effective swordplay that the pirates on the Tidesetter had demonstrated recently. Bolar had come along on the Tidesetter and Cobal trained with the hardened pirate most of his days. Before he knew it, Cassandra and the people from the village she had employed to help her out had finished the diving bell project. An almost alien looking piece of technology now sat on the Tidesetter with Fareh frantically double and triple checking that the weight of the large object wasn’t too much for the ship to handle. To compensate for it having to be light enough to move around, they had devised a system with bags of sand to keep it down, and with the bags sitting in a crate below deck, the sand would obviously not be added until they got back to Shark Tooth Island. After saying goodbye to Sebas and his family and an awkward exchange of pleasantries with Diana who came out to look at the completed product, the ship set sail back for Shark Tooth. The temperature was quickly plummeting and although Ravadier had a relatively mild climate, Cobal still worried that they would not be able to get much diving done throughout the winter if they didn’t hurry. If luck was on their side, they’d still have about a month before the real cold hit them, but if they were unlucky it would only be a week or two. With that on top of his other worries, it almost didn’t come as a surprise to Cobal that about halfway through their sailing trip back, he found himself bedridden and burning up.
Fareh had him rest in the captain’s quarters which were empty without Eliana there and made sure that someone was keeping watch on him at all times, to make sure he wouldn’t get too sick. Cobal’s thoughts had already been a whirlpool of chaos for the past couple days but without the energy or willpower to properly think it all turned into a blur of problems that would start pecking at his head like vultures, causing a headache that made it hard for him to get any sleep. When he did finally reach a point of exhaustion that would allow him to sleep, he was plagued with nightmares about spending the rest of his life in the Vadier manor, signing paperwork and sending soldiers to hunt down his brother while Mana abandoned their kingdom and joined forces with other people from her own world to bring about the end of times. He dreamed of standing in Marsolin and Salandra walking away from him, into the nearby forest never to be seen again. He dreamed about walking down a road that felt like it was winding in impossible directions, seemingly breaking the laws of physics. Eventually his dreams calmed down as he reached the end of this dark and winding road and found himself entering a clearing.
The weather was much more pleasant than when he went to sleep. It took him a moment to recognize that he was still asleep and something strange was going on. Cobal wasn’t one to get strange dreams so he felt disoriented for a while.
Come, child.
An unfamiliar voice without a clear direction spoke to him. He looked around the clearing and saw in front of him a building. It was a simple wooden home, built out of logs and a roof made out of leaves woven together. The door was open, with an inviting smell of freshly cooked meat coming from inside the building.
Cobal stepped onto the mossy forest floor that seemed to turn into flowers under his feet and walked up to the door, stepping through the entryway and into the brightly lit chamber. He had to shield his eyes for a moment to get used to the change in light.
“Cobal, are you alright?” Fareh was sitting next to him. The sun was out and he could no longer feel the gentle swaying of the ship. It took him a moment to realize why that was as he was no longer on the ship, but instead in one of the hammocks in the camp they set up on the island.
“You got sick on our way back and you’ve been more or less out of it for a couple of days.”
Cobal sat up right, his head still hurting and his thoughts fuzzy. He felt like he had to remember something important but it quickly slipped from his mind as he took in his surroundings. “I was out for days?” He asked.
Fareh nodded. “We already debated if we should sail you back to the mainland and get a doctor, but after talking it over with Mana, we decided to keep you here under our watch. She worried that whatever you were suffering from was a form of seasickness and that sailing you back would make things worse.”
“I don’t really remember much since we left from Ravadier.” He gratefully took the waterskin that the old woman held up and drank from it. “Thank you.”
“Rest up a bit more, work has continued without you.”
“Right, how are things progressing?”
“Slow and steady. The diving bell that your friend made is a magnificent piece of equipment and with Mana’s help it’s a very efficient way to scour the seafloor.”
“So it’s working as intended then?” Cobal asked.
Fareh nodded. “Like a charm. It allows people to be on the bottom of the seafloor for much longer and the search has been quick. While we were on our way to Ravadier and back the crew here made some solid plans and started creating areas. Mana said she’s basing it on a way they use to search for missing people in her own world. They divide the area up in different blocks or strips and send one or two people to each part. This is most efficient for the less deep parts of the water, close to the island. We still have hope that this key, whatever it is, is not too far from the island. Mana also argued that if we do not find it around the island, our next best thing is estimating through what route this mage traveled back to the mainland. There is a chance he dropped it from his ship while he traveled away. If we don’t find it near the island or on the route back to Ravadier, then I worry we will have to figure out an alternative way into the tower.”
“And why don’t we start on that part now?” Cobal asked, still a bit dizzy.
“Because Mana and Eliana are worried that if we do something wrong we will suffer the same fate as the people who are stuck here.”
“That makes sense.”
“For now, get some rest Cobal, we’ll talk more when you’re fully recovered.”
“I feel bad that I don’t get to help out right now.”
“You’ve helped more than enough by providing funds and materials for the diving bell.”
Right, Diana’s support. His thoughts drifted back to the proposal.
“I’ll talk to you later Cobal,” Fareh said, before leaving the tent.
After sleeping a little bit more, this time getting some proper rest, Cobal once again woke up right around the time of sunset, near the early evening. There was a campfire going outside his tent and after putting on a nearby jacket and his boots he made his way out of the tent and joined the others. He saw both pirates and possessed villagers from Ravadier sit together, play cards or dice and eat. Things had gotten less tense in the weeks he’d been gone from Shark Tooth Island. Even Mana seemed to be in a good mood, likely due to her diving bell project being a success. He sat down next to his friend.
“How are you feeling?” She asked.
“Better now, thank you.” He stared out at the warm fire.
“You don’t look like you’re feeling better, what’s on your mind?”
Cobal hesitated. For some reason it felt like talking to anyone about this would make it much more real, but he decided that if he was going to tell anyone, it would be Mana.
“I want this to stay between us,” he made sure no one was secretly listening in, “but Guthir Vadier suggested a political marriage between myself and Diana to strengthen the bonds between Ravadier and Saphestan.”
“I see.” A long pause followed Mana’s initial reaction before she added. “And how do you feel about this?”
“I have no idea.”
“Do you like her?”
“I guess we’re friends, but this is a political marriage, so that’s not of importance.”
“I don’t fully agree. I understand that the world we’re in is very different from the one I grew up in, and even in my world political marriages existed in the past and still exist to some extent in parts of the world. But I personally think that your happiness is more important than the stability of a country. At the very least you shouldn’t be forced to marry someone you don’t like.”
“It’s not like that.” Cobal took a bite from a grilled fish that someone else had put in front of him after he sat down. “I think it would be a good idea. We get along well, Ravadier would be a big ally and it would make my future a lot more stable and relaxed, getting to spend my days here on the peninsula.”
“But.”
“What?”
“I can feel a ‘but’ coming.”
“I don’t know, I just feel like it would restrict me a lot.”
“In traveling?”
Cobal nodded.
“Well, Diana seemed like a reasonable woman when we briefly spoke, I’m sure she’ll be willing to listen. Perhaps you can both come to an agreement over what marriage looks like.”
Cobal nodded. “That’s a good plan.” He smiled. “You’re so wise.”
“It comes with age.”
“And you’re very old.”
“Watch it.” They both laughed.
Opal Kaharis 