A wave thundered over the rocks to my left. Water swirled around my feet. The tide was coming in. So, I moved a bit farther up the beach, leaving the water behind. Now sand stuck to my feet as I plodded along. Well, I wouldn’t be climbing the rocks today. Seems I would need to wait until the tide turned to go out.
Overhead, the stars faded into the dawn. Thus, I needed to find somewhere to hide until the tide went out far enough for me to go around those rocks.
Until then, I could let no one catch sight of me. More rocks between me and where I needed to go, which was a cleft.
The rocks closer to the sea were not so high. Those, I would be able to climb over with ease, assuming stones weren’t too slippery.
Once in the darkness of the cave, I moved back into the shadows. There wasn’t much light, so I conjured some. Yes, rock shelves for me to climb up on and be dry. I heaved myself on top of one as another wave raced up the beach and entered the cave. My presence here was invisible now.
Crouched on the small shelf, I rued my decision to go out that night. Then I wouldn’t have witnessed the Captain killing his first mate. Pirates falling out never led to anything good.
The captain would never believe my assurance of silence. Well, who would? The adage about secrets and how two people can keep them if one was dead exists for a reason.
The problem was I wasn’t sure how to fake my own death believably. Not without, you know, dying.
Another option would be to talk to the authorities, but doing so might result in my death too. Most of the law got extra money from the pirates.
No, that route was closed to me. So I needed to disappear. That’s why I came to Edgeworld Bay.
No one ever explored what lay beyond the rocks. Ships couldn’t dock along the shore because of the ring of rocks. A person with powerful magick lived in that place. So I would go over the rocks and hope the person would tolerate me.
I am strong and can work. OK, I’m not strong in magick, but I am quite capable of serving someone who was. Such a sad state of affairs when my only hope of survival was servitude to the unknown. Now, I’m not sure a human created the magick. Some stories claimed a dragon lived beyond the rocks. Well, I would find out tomorrow night.
The cave opening got lighter as the sun climbed the sky. Water flowed in and I climbed higher in the cave. How high would the water come? Sitting on the highest rock shelf, I considered my situation.
I could solve my problem by drowning. Not an ideal solution. Had I been suicidal, I would tell the captain what I saw. Then let the man murder me. Not part of my plan.
Climbing over the rocks may well kill me. Either the attempt or the magick user could kill me.
Therefore, I prayed the magick user wanted people to leave him or her alone. I am a craftsman. I can make useful items for cooking. If I grew my own food, made nets to catch fish, and built myself another hut. Perhaps, I might live in peace. If I left the magick user alone, he or she might leave me alone. That was my hope. Tonight, I’d go over the rocks. Tonight, I’d be free or dead.
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