Harbour Chapter 5

Read Table of Content | +Kyla Sturchio
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I watched in silence as the ship slowly inched forward. Even the mice seemed to have grown curious, as I saw more and more little heads popping out of unlikely places to take a look at our approaching visitor. They were probably thinking it was just another new enemy coming to join the fight.
The ship’s approach was short lived, just as it neared the harbor I watched it lurch to a halt. I saw a figure lean over the ship’s edge and peer into the depths below them. The ship gave another violent lurch then a
loud crunching, crack, reverberated off the water.

I watched helplessly as the ship split in two and rapidly began to sink. The man aboard appeared to be alone as he worked his way to the highest part of the vessel. He jumped for it just as the ship was taken down.
The stranger seemed to be OK as he swam the rest of the distance into the Harbor. When he reached the bank a few hundred feet from me I saw him limp out of the water and slump onto the ground exhausted. Cautiously I approached him.

"Sir, are you OK?" I asked standing a few feet back from him.
He coughed "Been better stranger." He gazed around him squinting. "Tell me, is the Gnawnia?"
I raised an eyebrow at him "It is. Do you require a meeting with the King?"
His grin made me grow suspicious of him. "No, no, but I did hear that you had a bit of a pest problem. Am I right?"

I didn’t like his tone. I just nodded my head. "What's your name stranger?"
He lifted himself off the ground and rung out his robes. Water dribbled onto the dirt. "Name’s Zugzwang, friend. Wizard, magician, conjurer; whatever you like to call it." He smiled.
I stared at his strange appearance. Everything about him was foreign from his features, long and lanky built for running, not work. To his clothes, long flowing, purple, robes with socks that I would never come to understand. Moons and stars? It was all too strange. He even had an accent that made him hard to understand at times.

"Well you are free to stay with me if you wish. I won’t be returning to the Castle for another day or so. In the meantime you can tell me about yourself. The king will be most interested in you."
Just then a small little mouse, from the looks of it a burglar, scampered out of hiding trying to get a better view of the stranger. A gleam caught Zugzwang’s eye.
In quick flashing movements he managed to lay down an exotic looking trap and snag the mouse before it even had time to know what hit it. I stared mouth agape. There was much to learn.