Guided by the Stars

For the next days of our journey the fleet steered after Sirius and Vega. The weather made for pleasent sailing and the sun illuminated the sea around us. The glittering waves were even broken occasionally by a family of dolphins that had started following us. The sight was pretty enough to forget how boring the wide waters can be, especially when chewing on yet another old ship’s bicuit.

On the sixth day of our travel away from Venasi this serenity came to a sudden end when we descerned a column of ash and fire on the horizon. Dark clouds expanded towards us with an unnaturaly swiftness – seemingly indeed against the winds that had borne us until then. As thunder crackled madly through the dark blanket above us, the captains frantically shouted for the sails to be lowered. Just then, red rain started coming down on us, as the sea started to heave. Winds crashing across the decks, seemingly screaming as they passed over us. Some say that they heard words on the tempest and that they again screamed for the thief to be brought to justice! I have to admit that I recognised no words, but the roar was maddening nevertheless.

How long this continued, I do not know, nor did anyone else apparently. When the weather passed, only a grey emptiness remained, with the other ships barely visible around us. It seemed a small wonder that none of the ships or crew had been lost during the nightmare that had gone over us.

The crew had become so rattled, however, that they refused to continue the journey following Sirius and Vega. The captain navigator apparently recognised that his attempts were futile. And I cannot imagine that he himself hadn’t been affected by this crimson storm.