Return to Aether

To Aether

Upon a ship did Falco and Rowena set out for Aether, their island home. Joined by Achilles, Falco's old, but not always wise, mentor, and Kenneth, Falco's loyal caracal, the two set out. In charge had been left Xe-tian, a friend of Falco and Rowena, while Scholastica, another friend would look after Macbeth.

The ship they were taking was not a great trireme, but a simpler vessel like one a humble trader would have taken. Before Achilles got on board, he gave his young wife and their son a hug. Once we were onboard, he uttered to Falco and Rowena: "I can only pray that you will both see your son again and that I will be able to see my family."

Achilles was five and sixty twelvemonths old. His wife on the other hand was four decades younger than him. They had been married for three twelvemonths and were very happy with one another. Achilles was a member of Aether's native populace and so was olive skinned with wavy white hair that had been black in his youth, high cheekbones and almond-shaped blue eyes. His wife in contrast was of a different background, looking somewhat similar, albeit with skin was more brown, black hair that was straight and eyes that were black and circular.

Running his hands through what little hair he had left upon his scalp, Achilles stared out to sea as the ship made its way out. He stood at a height of five feet and eight and a half inches and was as lean as Falco. Save for a horizontal scar over his right eye, he would have been rather non-descript. Clad in a simple blue tunic, one never would have imagined what Achilles had been in his lifetime: soldier, philosopher, statesman and magic user. He had learned the magic of the clergymen, the magic of the healers and the magic of the far-off druids and by learning their magic had created a kind all his own and so he had taught that magic to Falco.

If only his pupil had been able to advance past hand magic. Still, the old man supposed that hand magic was good enough. It was not as good as thought magic, but still it was better than word magic.

The wind was good and strong and so as the wind did its work, Falco sat beneath the mast with Rowena, now putting a golden anklet upon her right ankle while a blue sarong lay nearby. They had brought weapons of course, with Falco having brought the sword of his great-grandfather, half-eaten with rust and missing a pommel, while Rowena had brought a dagger with her, equally as humble as her husband's sword, albeit not as old and in better condition. As for Achilles, he had brought a spear and a sword of his own. Armour too they had brought, with Falco bringing his great-grandfather's leather coif and doublet, worn out with cut marks and some rust upon them, while Rowena had likewise brought leather armour, having had acrobatic training she needed something light, and Achilles had brought a boar-tusk helmet alone. Shields too had been brought, yet by Falco and Achilles alone. Falco's shield was his own, having not previously belonged to any other member of his family, while Achilles' was likewise his own and until then had been a cradle for his son.

Kenneth, Falco's caracal, sat nearby. Six twelvemonths old, he was as fine a specimen as could ever be found. As a caracal, he was a medium-sized cat, robust in build with long legs, a short face, long, black tufted ears and long canine teeth. His coat was uniformly reddish-tan in colour, with the ventral parts being lighter with reddish markings. As a male he was twenty inches tall at the shoulder, had a head-and-body length of three and forty inches and a bushy tail of thirteen inches.

The sky was clear without a cloud in the sky and that was good. The last thing that was needed was a storm to threaten them.

As they sailed out for Aether, Falco and Rowena both thought of their childhoods. They had both been born as members of the nobility, he into a military family and she into an affluent family with palace connections going back for generations. Falco's paternal grandfather Conall had been the chamberlain to Menes, the Commoner who became a General who became the Divine Deucalion of Aether, and because Menes had no children, while Conall and both a father and a grandfather, it came to pass that a man descended from immigrants, the High Priest of the Donkey God, would ascend to the throne of Aether. Conall had ruled for two twelvemonths after which he was succeeded by his son Tigris, who went on to rule for eleven before Acinonyx, Crown Prince of Hyperion, had slain him amidst the chaos of an attempted coup by Taurus. It was then than Falco had ascended to the throne at sixteen twelvemonths.