Sea Bearings

The Never Ending Quest - Episode 129

Fred looked up and down the beach. He shivered in the late morning breeze. His wet clothes were clammy against his skin; he wanted to find someplace safe and get out of them as quickly as possible. But first he needed to find out where he was, and, more importantly, where the Dragon was.

Behind him were rocky hills and cliffs. The beach itself seemed to have no end as it curved along the sloping rocks, disappearing in the far off distance at either end. Before him was the sky blue sea. It filled the horizon like a wall. And like a wall, it made Fred feel trapped. He had never been on a beach, or seen anything but pictures of the ocean. The Kingdom was landlocked. To the north of it was the terrible Calamari Desert, to the south the Southern Caves and the Mountains of Shreken. The western border was shared with the Three Kingdoms and the eastern border was made up of smaller principalities, the independent duchies and a rag-tag collection of 'free' states, city-nations and untold village squares and hamlets.

And the sea. To the east of the Kingdom was the sea.

Fred's stomach growled. Not only was he wet, but he was starving too. He looked over at the skeleton again. Whatever clues he might have hoped for simply weren't there. The soft, white sand that surrounded him (and the remains of poor Sir Toby) were without track or mark. It was as if both he and the skeleton had simply appeared here or had been deposited here by some great hand from out of the sky. But why here?

"High ground," Fred grumbled to himself. "I need to get to high ground." And so Fred began the long, slow climb up the rocky hill that fenced in the sandy beach.

Half-way up a shadow suddenly fell upon him. Lost in his own thoughts, he never saw the man step out from behind the large outcropping. He was in his middle years, his clothes were brightly colored reds and yellows and blues, a jeweled scabbard hung at his side, and he wore a black patch over his left eye. Fred immediately reached for his sword.

"I wouldna do that if I were you," the man smiled and dropped his hand to the hilt of his cutless.

  1. Fred raised his arms away from his sides and glared at the man.

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WolfRun

3/9/1999 1:54:19 PM

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