The cool salty night sea air blew through my white hair and I shivered. I had just turned my back on my best friend and not said goodbye to my best friend Tlaca.
And she hadn't even visited me secretly.
If her mother had forbidden her to have contact with me, she would still have had to visit me secretly. After all, we were best friends! Or rather, that's what I assumed! That had hit me.
But I shouldn't think so much about them or my family any more. I had a mission now. I had to find out if the prophecy could be taken seriously and if there really was some kind of darkness following me. After all, I didn't think much of dying.
"Stop dreaming, heartbreaker." I was abruptly pulled out of my train of thought when the pirate spoke harshly to me. "I'm not dreaming," I replied and she just shook her head. We rowed on into the dark sea while I kept my eyes peeled for a big ship.
"When will we finally reach the ship?" I asked and the pirate laughed.
"We're there."
I looked around, but I couldn't see any ship. "Where is it?" I asked, puzzled. Far and wide I couldn't see any ship.
"Don't be so impatient, landlubber," the pirate said and stood up. The little boat wobbled and instinctively I held on to the rough wooden edges of the boat so as not to lose my balance.
The pirate held her hand in the water and muttered something I couldn't understand. The water began to glow slightly at her fingertips and small sparkling drops of water splashed through the air. Starting from her fingers, larger and larger waves formed, causing the boat to sway slightly. The waves came in faster and faster intervals and the boat swayed more and more.
"We're going to tip over!", I cried out loudly in fear and held on tightly as best I could. "Don't be scared landlubber!"
A loud creak sounded and a huge log shot out of the water next to me. I flinched, startled. The creaking grew louder and louder and the pirate only grinned when she saw my frightened expression. Before I knew it, the boat was no longer on the water but on a wooden surface. I was on a huge ship.
The ship had three masts, the middle one was bigger than the other two. Three snow-white sails were attached to the masts, which swayed slightly back and forth.
"Come aboard landlubber, welcome to my ship."
The pirate stepped out of our small boat onto the wooden package, at the same time a door opened in the back of the ship and several people ran towards us with joyful expressions on their faces. I also got out of the small boat and stood next to the pirate.
The other people I didn't know lined up in front of us and saluted, "We've been expecting you Captain! Welcome back!"
The pirate next to me laughed. So she was not a normal pirate but a genuine pirate captain.
"Thank you, you misguided bastards!"
I stumbled. This woman really had a vulgar vocabulary.
"Next to me, you see a heart-breaking, outcast inhabitant of Niantra! We will take you to the mainland. Just look don't touch, keep your sexual energies with you otherwise I will chop off any finger that touches her indecently."
I swallowed and looked at the men standing in front of me. You could see the fear of their captain in their eyes.
"Yes Madam!"
The captain turned to me. "I haven't even introduced myself to you yet. My name is Dasha and I am originally from Sulania."
I was a little uncomfortable but I had no idea where Sulania was. This was the first time I had heard of such a place. We Niantrans were so isolated and didn't know much about the mainland. Once a month a hand ship came to bring us goods and take goods from us. However, only outsiders were allowed to take part in the handover of the goods.
My curiosity got the better of me and I forced myself to ask Dasha. "Dasha? Where is Sulania?"
Dasha turned to me. "Oh, I completely forgot. You Niantrans don't know much about the mainland."
She turned to her crew and stood up straight. "Enough of doing nothing, you Hallunks. Get this baby ready to set sail!"
"Aye Captain!"
With that, the group in front of me disbanded. All at once the ship was full of life. Everyone was busily running around preparing the boat for sea.
"Follow me you poor uninformed thing." With these words she walked towards the door from which the crew had come running out earlier. Dasha opened the door and together we went down a narrow short flight of stairs.
We stood in a long corridor from which many doors led off. We stopped at the last door at the far end of the corridor and Dasha took out a key. She unlocked the door and opened it.
"Come into my cabin."
We entered and I looked around. The back wall consisted of a kind of glass front that was composed of various pieces of glass like a mosaic. A candle in a holder flickered and lit up the room.
"What do you think of my ship?" Dasha asked and I shrugged. "Well, let's get started then."
She pointed to a chair next to her bed.
"Sit down, landlubber. I want to talk to you."
I sat down obediently.
"First things first, I'm going to tell you how it works here on my ship. First of all, you will obey every order that comes out of my mouth without question. Secondly, you are not allowed to go anywhere alone."
I nodded. It would have been stupid to contradict her. After all, I was on her ship as a guest and I wanted it to stay that way.
"Great, then that's settled landlubber."
She went to a drawer and took out a scroll. When she was standing in front of me again, she pressed it into my hand.
"Here is a map."
I took the map and rolled it up.
"I drew this map myself a little while ago. This is the world you live on, landlubber. ", she said and sat down opposite me.
"Now listen carefully, because I'm going to explain everything to you."
I listened attentively and tried to memorize as much information as possible.
"As you can see, the mainland consists of 5 countries: Sulania, Oritris, The Democratic Union of the Four Souls, Delantoria and the Theocracy of Testios. At the bottom lies the desert of the dead souls. There is nothing but desert. This area is unknown territory. We don't know much about this desert because nobody knows what's beyond it."
I nodded. Dasha pointed her fingers at the map and smiled slightly.
"I will tell you something about my motherland Sulania: Sulania is a country located in the north-west of the continent. It has a population of approximately 50 million inhabitants. Its capital city is called Pribon. The main language spoken in Sulania is the language of the soul. In addition, there are four other languages spoken by different groups of people living in Sulania. These languages are known as the languages of the body, the language of the spirit, the language of the earth and the language of the sky. We believe in communicating with our bodies and souls."
I looked at her in amazement. "With all due respect, how is that possible? How are you supposed to be able tocommunicate with each other only with your body or soul?"
Dasha laughed.
"That's easy, landlubber! Our ancestors discovered a method of communication between the five senses and the soul. Our patron god gave us these abilities. We are a warrior people and these skills are an advantage to us. We can speak directly to another person using our five senses. For example, if someone wants to say 'hello' he simply looks at the other person and says hello. He doesn't need to use his voice. If he wants to say 'goodbye', he does exactly the same thing. However, this can only be done with someone who is also a believer in our God."
I nodded. "And what happens when you meet someone who is not a believer in your God??"
"Then they won't understand anything that you say. They will probably think you are an enemy and may kill you."
I shuddered. I had always lived in Niantra and had never left my home town. I had never seen anyone from the outside world. I had never even heard of the other countries until today.
Dasha continued talking about her homeland and its history. She told me about the war between the Theocracy of Testios and Sulania. She explained to me why the Theocracy of Testios was considered evil and how the Theocracy of Testios had conquered Sulania.
"Sulanian soldiers fought bravely against the enemy and managed to drive them away. However, the Theocracy of Testios did not give up easily. They sent their armies to attack us again and again. However, the war came to a halt four years ago."
I gasped. That must have been terrible for all participants.
"But the war was not over yet. There is no peace treaty and the Theocracy of Testios is a dangerous country. The priests who rule in the name of their god are cold-blooded people."
I shivered. I never used to think about the outside world. On Niantra, you lived a peaceful life until the end of your life.
"So, what would happen if war broke out again?"" I asked.
"The government decided to build a wall around our country. This was meant to protect us from further attacks from the Theocracy of Testios. Unfortunately, the construction work was interrupted by an earthquake. Now the wall is still unfinished and the border between Sulania and the Theocracy of Testios is open."
I shook my head. "This is a tricky situation. Why did they attack your country in the first place?"
"It's simple, landlubber. The Theocracy of Testios wants to conquer the whole world and make everyone worship their god. They want to control the entire planet. They are fanatics. They are convinced that their God is the strongest and therefore has the right to rule over all others."
I shook my head. How could people kill other people just to demonstrate that their own god is stronger than those of others? Terrible!
I was about to ask Dasha something else when the door opened.
A boy with blond hair and ice-blue eyes entered the room. "Madam we are ready to set sail."
Dasha stood up happily. "Off we go up landlubber! We're setting sail!"
Dasha ran down the corridor with the blue-eyed handsome blonde following her. Quickly I tried to keep up with them.
"Where are we sailing off to?", I called out questioningly as we reached the top of the stairs.
Dasha opened the door and the cool night air hit me.
"Our destination is the port of Halor, the capital of Oritris." With that, she stepped out onto the ship's deck. "Ladies and gentlemen, we set sail, full speed ahead!"