The Wand and the Wolf

36 - Ship shape

Ibhans POV
"Got any room?" I asked and Isah whipped around on his leg, almost knocking over another man walking by with a stack of boxes covering his view.

"Warlock!" he called with a grin as he made his way back down to the pier. He eyed the group standing behind me. "What in the seven seas have you been up to?" he asked, grey eyebrows raised as he looked back to me.

"It's a long story," I admitted, "but you owe me, so, do you have any room?" I asked. He grumbled under his breath.

"This is a lot to ask off for a few flower petals," he said.

"A few petals from a rare and powerful flower," I corrected him, "and lets not forget the fact that I was the one who secure your crew to the deck when things went haywire." I met his gaze, unflinchingly, until he finally sighed. He clapped a meaty hand on my shoulder and nodded.

"Bring them abroad," he said, "make yourselves comfortable, we're heavy with cargo for the main-land." I nodded and let the group pile on ahead of me.

"Thank you, Captain," I said, and he nodded thoughtfully.

"Is that her?" he nodded to Kyda, slumped across Damien's back, "your light?" I looked over at her, the careful way Damien carried himself with her, the hovering hand of Eliza always close by. I nodded and Isah sighed, patting me on the back once again. "Some reunion," he said, and he walked off, barking orders to someone in the distance.

I stepped aboard the ship, the group already migrating towards the deck hands, asking where they could sit and rest. I adjusted my bag and wand, making sure they were secure before I carried on. Riaz looked my way, a nervousness about him.  I made a point of stopping a few feet away from the rest of the group and waited for him to reluctantly approach me.

"You've never left Ravenvein," I said and he sighed, leaning over the edge of the ship.

"I've never had reason to, I didn't feel the need to find flowers or lights or anything," he said. "Is it as bad as everyone says?"

"Worse," I admitted, I wasn't going to let him go into this unprepared. "But you'll be fine," I told him about my last trip back and he let out a low whistle.

"The whole deck?" He repeated and I nodded, leaning back against the ship, arms crossed over my chest.

"You're powerful, you know?" He added but I shrugged.

"Why did you help me, Riaz? When you saw me running like a mad man through the town, why did you stop?" I asked and he groaned.

"Seems stupid now," he admitted, "but I was angry at you for how the whole assessment ended," he said. "I was going to ask you for a rematch," he turned over, facing the same way as me but with his elbows back against the edge of the ship.

"But?" I encouraged.

"But," he sighed, "when you told me your light was dying it got me out of my own head," he said with a bitter smile. "It was a test and you finished with the best marks of our class, and I was stupid for being mad about that, especially now that the stakes were so much higher."

I stood up straight and faced him, holding out my hand. He huffed and straightened up before accepting my hand in a firm handshake. Before he could say anything else Eliza came back, Damien at her side, still carrying Kyda. I felt a sudden wave of guilt that I had both left Damien to hold Kyda and hadn't checked on her in a while.

"Come, I got some blankets we do we can set her down," Eliza said leading us towards the stairs below deck.

"Oo, no," Riaz called after her, glancing at me from the corner of his eye, "you don't want to go below deck," he told her as he caught up with them. I shoved my arms into my pockets as Eliza conceded and made a small nest of the blankets between a table and a bunch of barrels. Damien lay down on the blankets and I kneeled beside him, gently undoing the ties around Kydas wrists and along her back. Once that was done, I slowly turned her over, her head ending up in my lap. Damien huffed and rolled onto his side, Eliza sitting by him and rubbing his side.