The Western Shores (The Forerunner Initiative Book 4) by Draith

Author:Draith [Draith]
Language: eng
Format: epub
Publisher: Darryl Kirtzinger
Published: 2023-12-18T16:00:00+00:00

4.27, A Sailor Went to Sea, Sea, Sea

5:05 am, local time. (July 26, 2023, 11:05 am.) The morning before setting off into the great blue yonder.

Even as Beth and captain e’Tell trade pointers on every seafarer’s greatest skills, their impressive knowledge of swear words, my eyes return to the Taken.

"So," I say as I sidle up next to Kellica. "What's going on?"

"The K'mintar has granted me my Vigil. However, she has insisted that since I named Ael'thani as my shadow, she needs to travel with me. And the others are here as witnesses to make sure neither of us act… rudely."

“She means try to kill each other,” Ael’thoni says, her smirk still fixed firmly in place.

"A waste of our time," Liktik complains, flicking their tongue out. "There are problems within Aethire we should be addressing."

This earns a glare from Ael'thoni, "Are you saying you disagree with our duty?"

"No. I disagree with the K'mintar's belief the Truth Seeker would run off. Or that she might turn her blade against you without just provocation."

"At least one of you respect her," Rufka says, patting Kellica's shoulder in what I'm sure is supposed to be a sign of support, even if it does make her stumble a half-step forward.

"Yes, yes. You all have history. But you are all to be good friends on this trip," Captain e'Tell declares, breaking off from her exchange with Beth while placing a hand on Rufka and Ael'thoni's shoulders. "You are all to behave. No violence, or you will find yourselves swimming back to shore."

For a moment, everyone goes silent. Then I ask, "Does that apply when we dock?"

Instead of answering, e'Tell lets loose a deep laugh, turning back to her map, her apparent disagreement with Beth forgotten. Or forcibly ignored, I guess. She spends a few minutes explaining our route south, and where we'll be stopping. Only a couple short breaks along the coast at Strongholds that only have a few K'tharn in each.

The first day of our journey is quiet, the captain's reminder hanging over everyone after we leave the navigation room. Later in the day, Tipan explains that she thinks the ship counts as the captain's stronghold, which means her rules are more than just guidelines. They're System enforced.

Which Beth is relieved by, if the way her shoulders slacken once Tipan informs us at dinner are any clue. I don't really share her relief, but then, I've been more concerned about the etiquette of how to ask to run my hands through Pogell's super fluffy fur.

Seriously, he would make the best pillow ever.

And when he comes over to talk to Tipan and I, I end up sticking my hands in my pocket so hard Smoulder grumps at me through our bond. Giving her consolation scritches keeps helps keep my hand busy.

“Hello, I thought I might join you. While we have a duty to observe Kellica, I find myself intrigued by… well, I’m something of a scholar among my people, and I’ve heard rumors of a species similar to your own,” Pogell says, standing next to us, his eyes on me.

Download

Copyright Disclaimer:
This site does not store any files on its server. We only index and link to content provided by other sites. Please contact the content providers to delete copyright contents if any and email us, we'll remove relevant links or contents immediately.