Chapter 33: The Current Finder

Chapter 33: The Current Finder

Current Finder

The ship that bore Kalen from his home and out onto the wide expanse of the Western Sea was called Ester Ivory. She was a huge, three-masted vessel, built of a kind of smooth pale wood Kalen was unfamiliar with. Cream-colored, with sails to match, she looked like an apparition on the water.

She had three cabinsone for the captain, one for the crew, and one for anyone who was willing to pay a hefty sum to travel in private quarters. This last was Yardas room, and by extension, Kalens.

Hed been determined but doubtful the moment he saw it. And now, two weeks into the trip, he could confidently say that hed never hated four walls more than he did these.

It was not the companys fault. Yarda was entirely too big for the cabin, but her unflagging good spirits were probably the only thing keeping Kalen from gnawing at the walls of his tiny prison like an enraged beaver.

Nor was it the fault of the captain, who was a peculiar but polite man from Tiriswaith, who had a son at home Kalens age and was therefore pleased to have him aboard. And the crew were fine. They mostly kept to their own business and left Kalen to his.

It was just the unending boredom, discomfort, stench, and inconvenience of the situation that was driving him slowly mad. He crouched on the woven mat that had been his primary place of residence since leaving Hemarland, one of the sun crystals from the pig barn clutched in his hand as he hunched over a project and tried to distract himself fromeverything.

The sea had been rough for most of the journey, and it was again today. The ship wallowed dizzyingly beneath him, creaking and moaning. It was nearing sunrise, he thought, but it was raining once more. And the world beyond the small, leaded glass dome of the cabins skylight was dark.

Yarda snored in her bedno worse than Iless at least. And both of her legs hung over the side of the mattress to rest on the stack Kalen had made of his luggage.

Nanus map had been left behind, but the books had all come with him from his room at home. There were also two carefully folded and wrapped sets of new clothes made by his mother and aunt. They were beautiful, and theyd been thoughtfully cut a little too large so that he might grow into them.

Hed refused to stick them in one of the holds where they might be exposed to damp or rats. And he didnt intend to unwrap them until he had escaped from this hellcabin.

Hed need them when, and if, he managed to meet Arlade. They would at least look like new even if they no doubt smelled like the revolting liniment Yarda rubbed on her feet and ankles every morning.

It was made of seal blubber and herbs, and it smelled like death. In the cramped room, her legs were rarely more than a foot away from Kalens face, so hed become all too familiar with the particular miasma of the stuff.

Kalen suspected the liniment didnt work, but hed held his tongue about it.

Yardas feet and hands had been swollen before they ever boarded, and now they were a truly alarming size. The skin was stretched taut over them. It looked horribly painful even if she never complained about it, and there was no point in being negative when he had nothing better to offer her for the problem.

Instead, he wrote letters for her. One almost every day. Neither of them had planned for such a robust amount of correspondence when they set out, but the rain had kept them trapped belowdecks together for almost the entire trip.

Yardas letters were long and thoughtful. They were full of advice about gardening and housekeeping for her sons new wife, and occasionally they contained stories about her exploits as one of Hemarlands best wrestlers.

Kalen had realized at some point that these last were mostly just for the sake of entertaining him, but he appreciated it and took particular care with his handwriting as he described the friendly violence Yarda had inflicted on her opponents.

As a result, Kalen was almost out of blank paper and ink. And he was glad the price for mailing the post would come out of Yardas coin instead of his own.

As always, the thought of his own wealth drew his eyes to his pack, where entirely too much gold was hidden.

Kalen had been subjected to three whole nights worth of basic economics lessons with Uncle Holv and Lander right before he left.

He had been made to memorize and recite the average prices of various essential goods and services until his uncle was satisfied that he understood what money was worth. And there had even been haggling practice sessions with Lander, which Kalen dearly hoped were not representative of normal merchant interactions on the continent, since his cousin seemed to greatly enjoy tormenting and robbing his only customer.

At the time, Kalen had wondered how practical the lessons would be for him when he had no money to speak of. Hed almost fainted when, to celebrate his final successful purchase of an imaginary donkey, his parents had given him a whole bag full of money.

It was the moneythe coin that had been saved up over all the years of Kalens life to be given to Sorcerer Arlade in exchange for her treatment of Shelba.

The sorcerer had refused to accept it, and it was understood that the accumulated wealth would become Kalen and Fannas inheritance.

But you cant give me all of it! Kalen had cried, aghast. Its one hundred fifty gallons of mead! Its seven good donkeys! Its a small wooden cottage in a farming community!

I hope you wont buy any of those things with it, his father advised with a sad smile. Its for keeping you fed, clothed and well for as many years as your education takes.

And for paying your way back home whenever you need it, his mother added quickly.

Butwhat about Fanna? What if you need money for something?

We can always eat Sleepynerth if we start to starow! Landers vile suggestion was cut short as Iless stomped on his foot.

Sleepynerth is my pig until Kalen gets back, she said, breathing through flared nostrils and glaring. He promised me.

You did? Lander gave Kalen an exasperated look.

Sleepynerth will protect Iless, he said unashamedly.

We all know you mean exactly the reverse of that!

In the tiny, smelly ships cabin, Kalen chuckled at the memory. It was bright and warm, but it felt distant. As if it had happened years ago instead of a couple of weeks past.

Captain Kolto had brought out his pet current finder.

Kalen hurried eagerly over to the side of the deck, where the captain and a couple of the men were gently maneuvering a large barrel into place by a gap in the railing. The barrel was made of another wood Kalen had never encountered beforesomething silver and soft enough to scratch with an incautious fingernail. And the water inside it was always full of small bubbles, even when the barrels resident was out doing its work or lying quiescent on the bottom.

Ah! Boy! called Captain Kolto. Come see her. She is ready to fly.

Kalen had never heard of a current finder before boarding the Ester Ivory, and hed been fascinated by the captains from the moment he saw it. It was a golden flying fish, slender and a bit shorter than Kalens arm.

According to the captain, they could only be found in one of the three mighty whirlpools that bore ships to their deaths in various places around the world. When they were taken from the pools, they longed to return, and because they were creatures with magic of their own, they had mysterious methods of finding the best route to the nearest great whirlpool.

Captain Kolto had trained his current finder to return to him when he blew on a whistle. In pleasant weather, he used the strange fish for navigation.

Kalen had gotten the impression from the ships first mate that this was more of an eccentric hobby than a regular practice for seamen from their island. But even if that was the case, he enjoyed watching the current finder work.

Can I?

Of course. Feel her out for me before she goes.

Unable to resist examining a magic animal up close, Kalen had obtained permission to stick his hands in the current finders barrel within minutes of hearing about it. And now the captain gave him permission to do it whenever the fish was awake and active.

Closing his eyes, Kalen plunged his hands into the barrel up to his elbows. The fish was used to being fed, so it nudged at his fingers. But after a couple of minutes of disappointment, it stopped.

Kalen took slow, steady breaths and tried to focus. He wanted his mind to be in that strange place, the one where he could feel the invisible thread that led from his coin toward the continent. Since the current finder had the ability to make its way back to its whirlpool, Kalen had wondered if he might not find a similar thread attached to it.

But hed only managed to grasp the proper mental state once while examining the flying fish, and what hed felt from it was not a thread at all. It was more like

A terrible bundle of boiling energy with a deep peace at its center.

It was beautiful.

Kalen wished he could see it again. Hed tried to explain how amazing it was to the captain, and Kolto had listened to him eagerly. But he didnt understand the working of the current finders magic himself, so he couldnt help Kalen grasp it.

But he was always pleased for him to try.

No, Kalen said at last. I cant feel it today.

He could feel what the magic did though. In the physical world. When he made a quick grab for the current finder in the bottom of the barrel, his hands was redirected around the animal by some illogical movement of the water. Like it stirred itself perfectly and precisely so that Kalen always missed.

Apparently, there were stories about how the deadly whirlpools were made by the sea in her attempt to hold the beautiful current finders.

The sailors laughed as Kalen made a few more attempts to grasp the fish, his hands slipping around it every time.

Laughing himself, Captain Kolto finally called a halt to the experiment. Kalen, boy, you will have to become a finer magician than you are now if you hope to catch the oceans lover.

Thanks for letting me try, Kalen said, still staring into the barrel where the gold fish seemed to be mocking him.

Kolto nodded. He brought his whistle to his lips, and the current finder leaped into the air, sparkling as it shed the water from its four, delicate fins and shining scales.

Kalen watched, just as awed as he had been the first time, as the fish soared over the side of the ship into the sea. It disappeared for only a few seconds, then leaped, gliding easily above the dark water.

Unlike the flying fish Kalen had heard about from Uncle Holv, the current finder seemed to have a significant ability to direct itself in the air. It didnt flap its fins like a bird might its wings, but it could change direction quickly, zigging and zagging over the waves for long stretches with ease.

Captain Kolto never let it get too far ahead of the Ester Ivory before whistling for it to come back. Each time it did, he fed it small, putrid-smelling tidbits from a pouch around his waist.

Its amazing, Kalen sighed. I want one.

The captain laughed. Shes glad you appreciate her, he said as the fish sailed off again. But still will not let you catch her to satisfy your curiosity.

Will there be others at the Lonely Twins? Kalen asked, naming their only port of call on this trip before they landed on the continent. Other current finders, I mean? They have a whirlpool dont they?

Yes, a mighty one when the tide comes and goes. But its not one of the great three, so there are no friends for my beauty. Though I do let her play to her hearts content when we make port there.

Can I watch her?

Of course, said the captain. The mysteries of the world should have an audience, dont you think?

I do, Kalen said.

A fine point of view. Very like a practitioner. And you wont have to wait long. We arrive at the Twins in three days.