| "When we get back to the island we'll have to sit down with him. I
wish he had agreed to come along with us. But atleast he gave me this,"
Fred said and brushed his hand against the green crystal tied around his
neck. "Anyway, we need to get ready now. We'll be docked in less than a
half hour." Loam nodded awkwardly, his head brushing against the wooden
ceiling. He was like a giant in a doll's house.
Fred winked, trying not to laugh at his friend's discomfort and then glanced down at the captain's bunk. His smile faded. Loam and Alicia followed his stare. At the foot of the bed was a broadsword. Alicia reached out for Fred's arm, "The city may be empty. And then there will be no need to raise your sword." Fred grimaced, picked up the sword and set it into the jeweled scabbard belted around his waist. "If there are people left alive, even if they are mad savages, we must do everything we can not to harm them. Minestus has killed half the world, I do not wish to be the death of what remains." When the boat finally docked, Fred and six others left the yacht and began their way into the city. With him went Alicia, Loam, his cousin Willian and the princess Astra, and Pall. Pall had been chosen by Moran. He was bigger even than Loam, and had as much strength as three bears together. His hairy bear hands could bend steel. All was quiet as they walked the empty streets. Empty of life, that is. All around them were the bodies of the dead. Some had been stricken in mid-stride, on their way to work or haggling over a piece of fruit. Others had had enough time to try to run, only to collapse in heaps in doorways, on bridges and at the city gates. Their faces were frozen in masks of terror and fear. Their hands were still clenched into fists, fists that had banged with futile desperation on doors that would never open for them. But what was worst of all, especially to men with the keen senses of animals, was the smell. The rot of a thousand bodies lying under the hot, steamy tropical sun. But Fred and the others did not stop. They had their mission, and they would complete it. As they came up to the mayor's residencia, Fred reached up to his neck and touched the green crystal. Carradene had given it to him just in case anything extraordinary happened. Fred could use the crystal to contact Carradene back on Malagua. Carradene had long ago lost all his mage's tools of the trade. He had the crystal only because of the dragon Malachi. So he would not be able to help them if they met something more than wild animals or half-crazed survivors of the plague. But in case of mishap, or if something else awaited them in that city, they would still be able to send a warning to the Pack. If Fred and his companions were unable to return, at the very least the Pack would know of it. At the very least, the Pack would be able to mourn them. The expansive mayor's office was plush and full of luxury. Golden goblets, mahogany furniture, silk tapestries; it was everything a man could hope for. But there was no one left alive to enjoy it. Alicia sniffed the air and turned to Fred. Fred was looking at Loam. Pall had stepped back the way they had come, looking around as if not sure of what he was seeing. Willian and Astra had noticed something strange as well. Though the entire city was one giant carnal heap, nowhere in the whole mayoral palace was there a single dead body. And not only that, but the very stench of death which permeated the air all about seemed to have completely disappeared. It was as if the plague had never touched this place; its white walls and tiled roofs were clean from the evil magic that had engulfed the world of Man. But why? And how? Perhaps Carradene would know... Go Back
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