Michael Foster - She Who Has No Name

Grand Master Gallivan began inspecting the decks, sending out scores of spells to investigate, while more soldiers climbed aboard. Many stood with their weapons ready, faces looking somewhat pale.

Finally, the commanding officer for the men, Captain Riggadardian, scrambled over the side railing and began looking about without worry or hurry, patting his uniform back into place. Samuel had had little to do with the man previously. He seemed a tad too sure of himself, as Turians commonly did, but rumour had it he was a capable commander.

‘Report!’ Riggadardian commanded.

‘Nothing yet, Sir!’ one of his men shouted back. ‘It looks abandoned and has seen extensive battle. I’d say it’s also been at sea a long time-several months at least. There are entrances to below decks fore, aft and middle, and several doors leading into the deckhouses. This thing is enormous, but it’s in terrible shape. I don’t know who built it or where it came from, but it’s seen better days.’

‘Magicians, what do you sense?’ the captain asked.

Samuel and the two Erics walked over to wherethe captain andGallivan stood together.

‘I can sense people below the deck. Not many. No magicians,’ Gallivan said, eyeing the towering structures of the ship. ‘No one above.’

‘Scour the rooms one by one,’ Riggadardian called aloud. ‘Leave no speck of vessel hidden.’

Just then,a door creaked open and magicians and soldiers alike turned to see some figures stepping out onto the decks. It was a small group of men and women, emaciated and thin. They shuffled out, seven in total, heedless to the swords raised towards them, and they waited, keeping their eyes to the floor.

‘What is this?’ Riggadardian whispered to Gallivan beside him.

‘They are unarmed, Captain,’ the magician responded, ‘and obviously in no state to cause us harm.’

‘Any more of them?’ the tight-bearded captain asked.

Gallivan cocked his head slightly to the side, scanning the ship for signs of life. ‘Plenty of rats and lice, but no other people below decks. Nothing else of note that I can detect. Still, send your men down to look around. There may be clues as to what has happened here.’

Samuel could feel this was true, but there was also something else. Somewhere, deep inside the ship, he could feel that something was present,something heavy with magic, but somehow hiddenfromhis senses. He knew he should make some mention of it, but Gallivan and the others did not seem to feel it. He thought it could be his own paranoia, for it was not so much magic he could sense-more like something…missing.

‘Then the Empress is not here,’ Riggadardian said,with disappointment. He recovered his composure and sent his men scrambling away to look into every nook and cranny on board the vessel. He approached the sorry group that had come crawling from beneath the decks. They looked as if they had barely survived some recent and harrowing calamity.

‘Who are you?’ he asked firmly. ‘Where are you from?’

None of them responded. They continued staring down at the deck, a mixed cluster of men and women, dressed in tattered rags. Their hair was matted and their skin was filthy. Riggadardian’s men eyed the group warily and stood no closer to them than need be.

‘Open your mouths!’ one of the soldiers bellowed, gesturing with his sword from afar, but the people remained quiet and motionless.

‘Grand Master Gallivan,’ the captain implored over his shoulder and the magician stepped up beside him. The two of them faced the emaciated survivors. ‘What on earth can you make of this?’

‘It seems evident that this ship is not within Turian or Garten capabilities. I have never seen or heard of anything remotely like it. I surmise that this ship and these people are not from Amandia and must be from some distant land we have not yet explored. And,from appearances, I’d say they’ve come a long way and are within days of perishing. This ship seems beyond navigation, wouldn’t you say?’

Riggadardian nodded with sureness. ‘I’ve never seen anything like it, but, with no sails and no capacity for oars or any other method of propulsion that I can see, it could have been floating around for any amount of time, although, it seems incredible that they somehow entered the harbour without being caught upon the rocks. There seems to be more than just luck involved. It would take manymore than these few survivors to manage a vessel of this size. I can only guess the crew have all perished.’

‘I agree. Normally I would suggest magic has been at work here, but none of this lot is capable. Let me have a closer look at them.’

Gallivan stepped towards the nearest survivor and held out his open palms to her. Gently, he put his hand to her chin and raised her face so he could look into her eyes. The woman was young, still in her late teens, and she made no effort to resist. In the light, it became evident her skin was not entirely filthy, but was deeply tanned and her eyes were angled, in the manner of the Western Isles.

‘Give them food and water immediately, Captain,’ Gallivan instructed. ‘I’d guess there’s none left aboard this ship, judging from the state they’re in. We can find a method to communicate with them later. Wherever they are from, it seems quite certain they are not involved with the loss of the Empress. Such a task is well beyond them in this condition. Keep guards on them while we search the rest of the ship, but I feel they are of little threat to us. Send word back to the palace. The search must continue elsewhere.’

Riggadardian agreed and called for rations and water to be brought over from one of the Turian vessels. The cluster of survivors remained still, but they occasionally glanced up to follow the movements around them.

‘Grand Master Gallivan,’ Samuel beckoned, while the others were investigating the curiosities of the ship, ‘I feel there is something else on this ship.’

‘Oh?’ the raven-haired magician responded with interest. ‘I feel nothing out of the ordinary. What do you sense?’

‘I don’t know. There’s something here, below us. It’s there, but not there. It’s difficult to describe.’

‘Perhaps something deliberately hidden?’ Gallivan mused. ‘I feel nothing, but I trust your senses, Lord Samuel. Take some guards and see what you can find.’

The Erics had climbed up onto one of the great deckhouses and were peering about, so Samuel started tentatively into the doorway from where the survivors had emerged, peeking into the strangely designed interior. Soldiers were moving about hurriedly and had already gone in before him, but he still felt as if he was entering into a beast’s lair. As he stepped over the high threshold and into the ship, he could not help but notice one of the male survivors tracking him subtly with his narrow eyes.

The cavernous ship was filled with narrow passages and rooms and it immediately became apparent that searching its entirety would take considerable time. He peered into some of the roomsand sawscraps of furniture here and there, but otherwise the insides of vessel had been gutted. It seemed as if portions of the walls had at one time been stuck with papers or decorations, but even these had been stripped away, leaving behind only scraps of paper backing. Small windows in the outermost walls let in sufficient light but,as he progressed further into the ship, its passageways further darkened.

He fiddled with the ancient relic in his pocket, wishing that it was reliable enough to cast some light unto the scene. Instead, he was forced to ask one of Riggadardian’s men for a lantern and he held it out nervously before him, wishing its radiance could banish away the shadows and his feeling of dread.

He squeezed past the soldiers as he met them, twisting round curling stairways and delving deeper into the ship until even the busy footsteps above him sounded far and muffled, and there was only the gurgling of water against the hull of the ship to keep him company. He thought about turning around and summoning some of Riggadardian’s men to accompany him, but his magician’s curiosity now had the better of him, and he continued on; drawn down deeper into the bowels of the plundered vessel by the strange feeling in his stomach that there was something here, waiting to be discovered.