Chapter 24
The Shelter
Sharine slowly opened her eyes, groaning.
“What is this…?” she murmured. She was on the bed. She felt an intense headache, her sight was blurring. She frowned at a bright sunlight. She turned around and heard a light metal sound.
“Is this some fetish freak?” said she, feeling a cuff against the bed frame. She struggled to get it off, looking for a sharp object. However, as she looked at the other arm, she stopped struggling. There was a bandage wrapped around her arm.
She felt the ground was moving, slowly with the creaking sound. She sensed it was the mooring area and she was in the vessel. The salty scent was mixed in the air. The water was splashing against it. The tide wasn’t too rough.
There was one red leaf on the floor, enjoying the sunlight coming from the window; it just stayed right in the middle of the floor. Sharine saw the cuff wasn’t really new; it was rusty and rough on the surface. She didn’t bother to get free from it because it was peaceful, so she just left it and laid flat on the bed. Her wound calmed down, she breathed deeply.
She tried to remember that giant figure with the fur coat around his shoulders. He had the long fuzzy hair and the axe.
She heard a footstep along with the creaking sound from an old wooden floor, she slowly sat up. She saw the shadows moving from the gap on the wall. The door opened, Sharine was shocked and disappointed at what just came in. It was some old fragile man standing in front of her. He looked like a little goblin with no hair, came with the plate full of food.
“Ahh good…” said the old man, good naturedly. He left the steaming meat and vegetables on the bed. The old man smiled, making the weird moaning sound and walked away.
“Wa… wait!” Sharine shouted, and the old man glimpsed at her. “Where… where am I?”
But the man ignored her and went away with a light step. The door was closed. She was looking at the food, her mouth watering and stomach grumbling. But she was tied up, and her other arm was not moving. She tried to move the arm but the sharp pain buzzed her brain.
She stretched her leg and tried to reach the plate with the end of her toe. She bit her lips, grunting with frustration and after a while, she was able to move the food toward her. And without much of a thought she just plunged herself into the food.
Sharine coughed and swallowed, hardly chewing. The meat was hard but she ate with all her strength. Her tear went down to her cheek, which she has almost forgotten that it was there.
The door opened again and she startled, looked up to see his haggard appearance with thick mustache, his two axes strapped on his back. Sharine sniffed and stared at him cautiously.
“I’m impressed, you stabbed me,” he said, showing the slash on his coat, with a huge, ugly smile. “You have been sleeping for almost a week. Are you with that pirates who arrived here recently?” Sharine didn’t say anything back to him. The man pointed finger at the Sharine’s arm.
“That was some nasty wound. I’m guessing you are their prisoners, and you escaped from them, right?” he said with his low gurgling voice.
“Yes,” said Sharine.
“You’re welcome. That old man cooked, he cooks one heck of a meal. By the way, I felt pretty bad when I got attacked by pretty girl like you! Well, if you weren’t so bad state, it would have gone into my skin. I mean, I’ll be the one who’s lying here,” he glanced at her. The man had moist, glittering eyes, and the yellow teeth. Sharine sensed that he was the lumberjack the men at the field were talking about.
“I saw the men on the way here. They talked about the man with the axe, living in the forest. Who are those guys, and who are you?” said Sharine, with a clear tone.
“Oh, there are many who look for me. You see, this island is pretty big,” he stood up and took out a tiny key from his pocket and walked toward Sharine. He unlocked the cuff. Sharine stretched her arm.
“So where did you learn how to fight? You are some vicious warrior,” he said, enthusiastically.
“I came from Cassandra, and you haven’t answered my question,” said Sharine.
“My name is Glock Russo, I’m from the village,” said him.
“What do you mean the village?” Sharine frowned.
“Oh, didn’t those pirates told you?” asked Glock, confused.
“I’m a cast away, I’m with no one,” said Sharine.
Glock stared at her queerly, and grinned.
“What are you looking at?” said Sharine, frowning. Glock handed her a napkin. Sharine, little embarrassed, took it and rubbed her mouth.
“Outsiders call it The Village of Riddles. They call it like that because it has so many secrets. I won’t tell you now but soon you’ll know,” muttered Glock.
“My name is Sharine,” said she.
“Hello Sharine, I’m Glock,” said Glock, smiling. “You can relax; this is quite a safe place.”
“Safe place,” repeated Sharine, as if he is talking about some nonexistent word.
“So, where is this Cassandra? What is it like?” asked Glock, excitingly.
“It is a lurking ground of warlords, run by some retard. Everyday there are murders and executions. I kill for living. I was doing the work for one crazy woman, but things went wrong on the ship, and that is the reason I’m here,” muttered Sharine.
“Nah, that can’t be right,” said Glock.
“What is not… right?” said Sharine.
“There is no place on earth that is so bad. No… no of course not. I think you are making stuff up!” said Glock, cheerfully. Sharine merely stared at him. He laughed aloud.
“Get some rest,” he said, and stood up. Glock had a huge smile on his haggard face, and walked toward the door. At the door, he stopped abruptly, looking back at her.
“If you are feeling better, I’ll take you to the tour to the village,” said Glock and he went out.
She sensed that this is some floating woods the lumberjack guy held it together, it hardly was a ship. The pair of crickets was making sound somewhere near. She sighed, and put rest of the meat inside her mouth, munching.
“It’s going to be all right,” she said to herself, swallowed the food and collapsed onto bed and fell into a deep peaceful sleep.