First the black rain arrived, the terrain changed rapidly before their eyes. The trees rotted, becoming black and bare. The desert solidified, and black, weak trees grew out of the land in minutes. The sun and sky were covered by black clouds, lightning struck and thunder roared, the wind blew from seemingly all directions, dancing in the dark.
The four companions stood tall in the carnage, drenched by the rain. Starving, injured and tired, but unyielding to their peril. The boy with eyes full of conviction whispered through the thunderous roars:
"Follow me"
Mikael could swear Roy seemed bigger, his innocent soul replaced by something greater. He held Tony's spear in his right hand, it was clear it would not offer him much progress due to his class, but there was more than just practicality that drove Roy to hold the spear.
Every step felt like a mountain in the wind, every raindrop like a needle, the darkness and glimpses of light followed them.
First they heard where the boy was leading them, the sound of waves.
The land ended into a cliff stretching into the horizon with giant waves crushing into it. If the storm on land was carnage, the sea was death. Seawater as black as night, in the flashes of lightning, in the distance, giant beasts seemed to appear and disappear in its waves.
In this storm, full of carnage and death, only two sources of light remained; the lightning and the…lighthouse. In the distance, on the cliff, a lighthouse could be seen, spinning its light for the world to see.
"There is a wooden building besides the lighthouse" said Roy with a serious tone.
"First we faced the light, then we faced the darkness, now we face…" William stopped speaking, glancing at eachother, they silently agreed that jumping to conclusions was not the brightest of ideas. Being open-minded has been a significant factor in their trials so far, it would be best to consciously take that stance.
They slowly moved towards the lighthouse, moving slowly due to the wind. Mikael checked the generals…his watch. They had walked for half an hour. The lighthouse was tall, around a hundred meters in height. Mia mentioned that the size of it was unreasonable, as she had grown up by the seaside.
Next to it stood a sturdy wooden cabin. The wood seemed to be old, but the cabin was well maintained. On its roof were many signs of repair over the years. Within the cabin they saw light, which told them it wasn't empty. There was a sign on it.
"Tavern at the Edge"
Without much discussion, they walked to the entrance. Since it was a tavern, they did not feel the need to knock, nor were they in the mood to entertain social norms.
Mikael walked up and opened the door, immediately many shouts came from the inside.
"QUICK! GET THE FUCK IN AND CLOSE THE DOOR"
"FOR GODS SAKE HURRY IT UP…MY GOODNESS, MY RESEARCH"
"WHO THE HELL IS IT, WHAT ARE YOU A MORON?! CLOSE THE DAMN DOOR"
The four companions were a bit surprised, but ran in quickly and closed the door behind them, fighting the wind in the process. Mikael took note that the door was not locked, but it somehow managed to keep itself from opening once closed, despite the strong winds.
Couple dozen tables were filled with people. Many of them were scrambling to pick up their papers that had gone for a fly, due to the new visitors.
They were all wearing some variants of medieval clothing, there were many candles on the walls and tables. Mikael noted that craftsmanship of the cabin itself was very good, he would know, as his father was a trained carpenter.
Opposite of the entrance, at the other side of the tavern was a bar with a woman cleaning wooden cups. She didn't seem to mind their entrance at all. Once everyone settled down, some of them stared at them in judgment.
Mia took the lead as she started walking to the bar, dodging the many people. The boys were a bit late, as they had been geared for a fight, but they followed her with quick steps once realizing that there was no immediate danger. Roy and Mikael felt most out of place, as they had never been in a bar.
Chatter could be heard around the tavern, now that everyone could take a good look at the visitors. Strange clothes and their injured state sure helped in piquing everyone's interest.
The tavern maid looked up at Mia who sat the bar, and spoke:
"You lot don't look too good, you got any coin to be here?"
Mia smiled, looked around the tavern and spoke loudly enough for those close to the bar to hear.
"Not yet, but we have some things we'd be willing to trade, considering the curious eyes, I believe it shouldn't be an issue"
"Aye, but you need to speak to the boss first. Over there"
The group looked in the direction the maid pointed at, there was a small table in the corner of the room, a man sat at it. He was plump, wearing simple black clothes, playing with some cards in his hands.
The group started walking towards the man but paused when they noticed a strange phenomenon. The entire tavern became more and more silent as they approached. Looking back at the plump man, Mikael couldn't shake off his unease.
The man locked eyes with Mikael and motioned him to sit down. Sipping on his coffee, the so called boss posed a question.
"Should a soul take wing akin to a free-spirited bird, soaring untethered by the winds of personal desire? Or should it instead traverse the celestial paths, as directed by the luminous stars, celestial guides that illuminate the way for all mortals?"
Mikael looked at the man in consideration. Thinking carefully, he thought back to the many books he had read locked between four walls. The question posed was philosophical in nature, no true answer could be provided, so one can say there is not much value in it, but it did well to reveal the moral inclinations of an individual. Mikael did not feel too comfortable revealing his inner thoughts, his unyielding nature pushing him to challenge the authority this man seemed to possess in this godforsaken tavern at the edge of…nowhere.
"Who are you to seek out my person or character? What makes you think you can judge me with a question without an answer? You reckon yourself a celestial star?"
The man stopped sipping on his coffee, he lowered his eyes seemingly in thought.
"My apologies for the confusion, this is not meant to be a test, despite the often misguided notions held by the visitors. I do not decide for anyone to stay, those who had to leave…it was to keep the peace in the tavern that I hold dear. As for the question, I'm simply fond of exploring the nature of man, and I seek the wisdom of strangers for perspective, to satisfy my curiosity. My name is Samwell, son of Brind…if I may inquire, you said there is no answer"
Mikael now felt far less threatened being won over by the polite response of Samwell. He smiled and introduced himself in kind.
"I'm Mikael, son of Ben. The question you ask is an exploration of morality, which is subjective in nature"
Samwell nodded in understanding.
"I would agree, one who has nothing and one who has everything could never see life in the same light. Then how do we determine, what is right or wrong, do we surrender to the notion that our struggles with choices are irrelevant or do we seek meaning and structure"
Mikael considered it, already knowing the answer.
"One must have the will to follow his or her desire, without becoming a slave to it. Some structures may be arbitrary, but they provide us with opportunity. Of course we must not be blinded by these celestial paths, as you put it. Ultimately it is a never-ending struggle, but one that is an important part of who we are, there is nothing to surrender, and there is nothing to gain, only to experience and reflect."
Samwell smiled, seemingly satisfied.
"Structure provides opportunity, I must say, I've never viewed it that way. Well, I'd love to continue this conversation, but I won't take any more of your time, please enjoy your stay at the edge."
Mikael smiled and shook the mans extended hand. As they returned to the bar, the tavern maid smiled and nodded towards a gentlemen sitting at the end of the bar, then called out to somebody in the back to get some porridge and meat. Meanwhile, William walked up to the gentlemen and chatted with him.
Soon enough he came back and spoke:
"The general's watch caught his attention, it's made from gold and leather, right?"
Mikael looked at his watch and nodded. Then he got out several watches from his pockets, which he had picked up from the dead. Some of them were electric, but William didn't seem to mind, considering they'd be long gone by the time the watches stopped working.
Roy also passed him some leather belts, earrings and rings. They had been quite productive, before the storm arrived, it seemed a waste not to pick up everything they could considering how vague the trials were. Even their clothes were switched with the dead, considering their own had been pretty much destroyed.
The gentleman inspected the goods. He was particularly interested in the watches, as his inspection was ongoing, some woman, who seemed well dressed approached and showed interest in the large circular earrings made of silver. She immediately offered 10 silver coins for it. The gentleman commented that it was a good price and they should take it.
In the end they received 50 gold coins, 30 silver coins and 40 copper coins. The four companions were not sure if this was a good deal, though frankly they didn't care. One meal only cost a single copper coin, and a hundred copper coins equaled one silver, while ten silver coins equaled one gold. It was more than enough to fulfill any needs that might arise. The actual exchange happened in a separate room, as the gentleman introduced himself as Wight. At their request he explained the values of the coins, though he was quite confused on how they didn't know.
The group roughly split the coins amongst themselves, in case they got separated and then asked the gentleman where they could buy some supplies. Apparently the man who could help them was currently asleep so instead they simply went back to the bar and finally enjoyed their porridge, making sure to eat slowly and with breaks, considering they hadn't eaten in a very long time. Mia covertly treated William in the process, it seemed that with food, she had a far easier time and needed no breaks for quite some time.
After she treated all three sufficiently, she asked for a room for the four, and went up to sleep first. As she did, a large man came down the stairs and Wight called out to him motioning to the three at the bar. The large man went into the room they had previously been in and the three followed after.
"Name's Lionel, what do you need?"
William sat down in front of him and spoke, motioning towards Mikael.
"My friend needs two scabbards"
Lionel looked up at Mikael, then looked at his blades in his hands, stood up, walked out and several minutes later came back with a belt and two scabbards. He asked for the blades and with his own knife he cut off the extra from the scabbards. Then he made several holes at the ends and sewed up the cuts with a rough needle and a leather thread. When he was done, he put the saber and stiletto in them. The scabbards seemed to be intended for none standard blades, as they had strings that could be pulled on to adjust their shapes and widths from one side.
"Isn't this material too weak to not be cut by the blade?" asked Mikael with interest.
Lionel looked up at him, a bit insulted seemingly.
"This is an eastern bear leather. The outside and the inside have different textures, you need atrim steel to cut it well and even then it's very resistant to cuts from the inside, this is very good quality for a scabbard that wasn't made custom to the blade"
Mikael didn't know what was so special about an eastern bear, nor he knew what atrim steel was, but he knew the man was a craftsman who was proud of his work, just like his father. He nodded and waited for the man to wrap the scabbards around the belt, which also had some pockets attached to them, which could be closed with strings.
Picking up the belt he looked at it for a few seconds.
"Could you use this belt instead, though I would like for it to have pockets as well" said Mikael while taking off his leather belt with a stainless steel buckle.
Lionel took a good look at the belt. Inspecting it like it had many details.
"This is very good craftsmanship, the precision is incredible, the steel is very strange. I can feel that it is resistant to rust…are you sure you want to ruin this masterpiece with…pockets?"
Mikael looked at the man somberly, he wanted the pockets of course, but the man reminded him of his father, who had said similar things to clients often, so instead he relented and only asked to attach the scabbards.
Lionel smiled. Then he opened a cupboard at the corner of the room, where he kept his tools and took a good half an hour to attach the scabbards to the belt. He glued a steel cover embroiled with seemingly Celtic symbols to the edge of the belt, so that the leather strap of the scabbard wouldn't ruin the belt overtime with the sword pulling it down. Wrapping the scabbard carefully with the strap he taught Mikael the process of tying it to the belt and himself. Mikael knew that the belt was just an average item mostly made by machines, but he did not speak of it.
"Make sure to get custom scabbards when you have the chance, these ones are too crude for such a piece"
Mikael tried to pay for the scabbards, but Lionel refused, saying that working on such a wonderful piece was payment enough. Instead he suggested they spend that money on something else.
"We will also require some capes with hoods. Is it possible to get some armor as well?"
Lionel considered for a moment.
"I can get you the capes…but I'm not sure if you'll need the armor. Do you intend to cross the ocean?"
The four of them looked at eachother. This seemed to be a natural development of things and the tavern seemed like a checkpoint to restore themselves. Mikael stood up, placing his left hand on top of his saber hilt and asked the inevitable.
"When can we expect a ship to arrive?"