New Horizons (A Pirate Story)

Chapter 1: The Stranger

She ran. She ran as fast as her feet could carry her. She didn't know where she was going, but she had no choice. She had to run. Past the blacksmith and the baker. How far would she run? Where would she go? She climbed a pile of crates stacked high and filled with chickens. She knocked them over as she went, causing a commotion in the streets. As she kicked off the last crate and landed hard on the ground, the boxes scattered behind her and blocked the oncoming guards. They clumsily scrambled over the crates to the other side when one of them shouted, "Stop her!"

            The people roaming the streets glanced over in the direction the commotion was coming from every once in a while, but did nothing, too occupied with their current tasks to really care. It wasn't unusual to see crime in the streets, but Astryd wasn't a criminal. She was running for a different reason.

            She took a sharp right turn down an alleyway. The awful stench of rotting produce wafting from the tavern windows burned her nostrils, but at least the alley was dark, and maybe she could use that to shake the guards off her tail. But even if she did, where would she go? There was nothing in this kingdom for her now.

            When she reached the end of the alley, her heart plummeted to her stomach. There was a band of thugs wandering around the side street she ended up on. She was pinned in with the palace guards closing in behind her and a group of six men blocking the small street ahead. She tried to sprint past them, but she already caught the attention of one of the men. He grabbed her by the wrist and swung her around to face him. He looked down at her with a sneering smile.

"What'cha got there, pretty lady?" he grinned and peered down at the small satchel tied to her waist. "Perhaps a pretty penny?"

His hot breath touching her cheek smelled of week old ale that nearly made Astryd gag. She turned her face away from him, doing everything she could to gasp for fresh air. His claws they called fingernails were digging into her wrist. The other men were closing in around her, and she did the first thing that popped into her head. With all her might, she stomped on the man's foot. He let out a yelp and let go of Astryd to reach for his now throbbing foot. Astryd whipped out a small dagger from her pocket and flailed it around blindly. It was enough to make the other men back up, and she fled. She bound past them and continued her escape.

That was just another reminder of how desolated the kingdom was. She had no reason to stay. It wasn't worth risking her life. There was only one quick escape out of the kingdom.

            The kingdom called Esterbell was falling apart, but it wasn't anything new. Esterbell had been riddled with crime and lawlessness for as long as Astryd could remember. Their king was selfish; the only actions he took were to benefit himself. He let the kingdom rot. Crime roamed the streets freely. But as much as she hated it, it was something familiar. Leaving for the unknown was a scary thought, but she had more reason to leave now then ever after what happened earlier that day.

            Her hood whisked off her head when she made it back to the main street. It was very windy, which meant she was getting close to the docks. She managed to tuck her curly light brown hair back into her hood as she repositioned the cloak back over her face. There was no time to stop though. She had to keep going.

            What would happen after she left? Would anyone care? No. There was nothing for her here. After a few dodges and turns, there it was, finally. The ocean. She longingly took in the salty fresh air. The dock was lined with every type of ship imaginable. There were some ships Astryd didn't recognize, and most of them were flying the black or red colours.

            Pirates.

            Astryd stopped short of the docks. She felt a shiver run up her spine. Another thing she despised were pirates. They're filthy, and crude and did whatever they wanted without considering the consequences. That's exactly what she was running from. A king that did whatever he wanted to please himself. But not all of the ships were flying the dark colours. She just had to pick a ship. She began pounding the ground with her feet once more until she reached the door to the closest tavern. There was bound to be a crew sign up in there, but the guards hadn't lost sight of her just yet.