Seafarer Vol.6

Frightened by the sight the mariner thought to turn and run or fly away swiftly, but the strong arm of the Captain held his shoulder firm. "Calm yourself sailor, steel your nerves, for ten years is the toll and ten seconds has hardly passed." The Captain stated. "When we leave port, the seas will churn, the Dark Prince has never sailed on the calm sea. The storms of life surround him cursing the damned to never abandon ship." The Mariner looked around at the ghostly crew and wondered what duties he would be asked to perform. "Where will I be stationed?" The mariner asked. With a wicked smile the Captain said "Its the Crows Nest for you boy. And fitting it be as I see it."

The Lady Fates words proved true, for the time he served on the plateau had been akin to a dream when compared to the toll on the ship. As the Captain had warned the ship seemed endlessly cursed to sail under stormy skies. The lightning striking around the mast on which the Crows nest rested turned out to be the least heart wrenching of the curses that daunted the young seaman. He had been given the duty of watch, to relay unto the crew whenever another ship appeared on the horizon. While his sharp sparrow eyes proved perfect for the task, the knowledge of the atrocities that would befall every ship he spotted weighed heavily on his soul.

When the Dark Prince approached another vessel, a fog rose on the surface of the water. As if the sea itself sighed with heavy breath at the awful fate of the poor doomed souls. The storms that rode alongside the Dark Prince always delivered panic to the other vessel long before the ship itself could be seen. Over the ten years that the young seaman had been aboard he witnessed hundreds of encounters with other vessels and they always ended the same. The cannons of the Dark Prince would destroy the other ships without mercy, and in all the battles he had witnessed not once had the Dark prince taken any damage at all.

He would always scan the waters after the sea claimed the other ships, with hopes that someone may have survived. Just as the Dark Prince never took damage, it likewise took no prisoners. He witnessed on many occasions men swimming for their lives, only to be pulled beneath the surface by some unknown force. He considered that the cursed ship probably attracted sharks who realized that every where it sailed a free meal would soon be had. Even though he hated the service to the ship and the suffering his sharp eyes had inflicted on so many innocent people, he trusted that once when his toll was paid in full he would no longer be forced to deliver others to their doom.

Sailing under the darkness of a never ending storm the days and nights melded into one long eternity. The seafarer became less affected by the ceaseless storms and even by the endless cries of those the Dark Prince sent to a watery grave. He began to wonder to himself if the toll had truthfully been one of time, or could it be upon his morality itself. One day he sensed something shift in the air around the ship, the change was subtle. While the clouds still stirred overhead the eternal feel of impending lightning and constant roll of thunder in the distance were missing. "Avast seaman, come down from there today we go ashore." Cried the Captain from below.

Confused by the Captains call but inspired by the thought of standing on dry land the seafarer glided down from the Crows nest next to the Huge Captain. The large man stared deep into the mariners eyes for a long moment before sighing. "I knew the toll would be too great, your tenure on the Dark Prince is served lad." Said the Captain. "Head back to the sisters and tell them your debt be paid, and you paid the toll with honor in spite of the scars it left upon your soul." He continued. The mariner was not sure what the huge man meant by scars upon his soul, but understood that the Captain believed his time had been served.