TRAVIS

Travis subtly frowned a little as the portmaster turned away to continue his job. The beautiful ancient city could not distract him from the feelings of the vessel he captained. Filled with serpentine depictions of dragons, the city felt like a mix of a tourist destination and the ruins of an ancient city. He felt her immeasurable concern and fear that pestered the vessel despite the ship's attempts to hide her feelings.

I wish I could do something to help. Travis sighed slightly.

Marin approached Travis. "I'm worried about her." Her voice wavered slightly. "The... pirates... are bothering her more than she is willing to admit. I can feel how tense she is." Travis nodded in slow agreement, "Let's try to set sail as soon as possible. The Portmaster gave me the name of someone who is willing to purchase our grain. We may not get the best price, but the transaction should be faster than haggling with merchants."

I'll go with you," the Pantherian offered. "I agree that we should try to maximize our lead with the dark ship. I have experience with them." Her tail twitched as her face contorted slightly. Eventually, she spoke again with strained words. "The pirates I ... served... are nothing compared to the dark lord's ship. They are not to be trifled with."

"What can we do?" Travis frowned.

Marin was quiet for a few moments, the ocean breeze moving her fur in waves. "I don't know," she admitted. The tip of her tail twitched slightly. "Master Captain Corvin controls almost all the pirate crews on the sea. I fear Paragon may be the only vessel able to counter The Black Reaper."

The human captain looked at the city. "This is a low-magic port, so we should have Costasiella unload the crates. Myrllen can help pass them up to her, but we should try to minimize how much attention we gather." He mentally reached out to his crew. "Costasiella, Myrllen, can you two move all the grain onto the deck? This region is low-magic. Myrllen, can you pass the crates and bags up from the hood to Costasiella on the deck? Marin and I are going to sell them. Once you finish, you're free to go on land, but stay close. We're not going to be here long."

"On it!" Costasiella responded, her mental communication filled with excitement. Travis suspected her explanation was audible as well. The thought made him smile.

Myrllen sent a wordless feeling that he would gladly help. He almost seemed distracted, but Travis suspected he was in his room, studying spells from the many magic books the liveship carried aboard. The human nodded, then smiled a bit to Marin, "Ready?"

Marin nodded, her footsteps on the wooden dock as quiet as a bird gliding on the ocean winds. In contrast, Travis's footfalls resonated with the wood like the beat of a drum, "Where do we go to meet the contact?" she glanced between the various stalls and booths of the city's merchant sector.

"Look for a stand with the nation's seal on it - the symbol of a long-bodied dragon holding a sword." Travis scanned the area as well.

"I see it," Marin's sharp eyes locked on a distant stall as she led Travis up the street. The human was unsure how the Pantherian could see the symbol peaking through the menagerie of banners and merchandise hung in and around the various stands. She took the lead, gracefully navigating the commotion surrounding them like a leaf fluttering between branches on its way to the ground.

Travis struggled a bit to follow her. He was used to ducking beneath logs and planks on the shipyard, but the maze of people was different. It took him a few extra moments, but he soon arrived at the booth.

"How can I help you?" The worker asked as he adjusted his standard-issue cap. Unlike some of the other stands, this one had a door to the building behind it.

"We have some grain imports. What is the rate?" Marin calmly requested.

"The rate is based on weight. Bread grains are fifty per unit, other grains are thirty. Non-negotiable." The guard droned each word as if that was the millionth time he answered the question today.

"We'll bring the load to be weighed and inspected." Travis nodded. He focused on Costasiella. "Costasiella, we're ready, can you bring the grain?"

"Yes!" Costasiella jubilantly responded.

"We'll come to help." Travis nodded.

After a moment, Myrllen telepathically contacted the crew. "I'll help. And I remember, no magic here."

Travis gave a mental nod of affirmation, "We're coming to help too."

They soon arrived at the docks, where Costasiella had moved all five crates from the deck to the dockyard. Two wooden boxes sat in a small cart, but the other three sat on the docks. She waved to Travis and Marin, then looked at the three boxes on the ground. She extended her tendrils and loaded the grain containers on her back and shoulders, secured with her green tendrils extended around them.

"I got Paragon to make us a cart for the others." Myrllen grinned, "Though she acted strange. I'm not sure she's ok." His eyes glanced at the statuesque figurehead.

"Thank you, Myrllen, "Travis nodded with a small smile. The Stellan beamed at the praise.

Travis and Marin grabbed the poles in front of the cart. "Follow us; we know where the buyer is." The captain smiled as

he and Marin started to head the way through the cobblestone streets. Myrllen helped as well, pushing the cart.

The government worker looked surprised to see the group but soon stood. "Go through the door, the inspector will show you the way." he started turning a crank, and a set of large doors slowly opened with noisy chain sounds.

Once the door fully opened, the group entered. Costasiella and the cart passed through with plenty of space to spare on all sides.

"Leave them here for inspection." Another uniformed worker gestured and pointed at a painted circle on the ground as she spoke in a slow voice.

Costasiella nodded and gently placed her load in the center of the white ring, then unloaded the cart as well.

The government worker approached with a metal tool and quickly pried the lids open. She poked around and stirred the dry grain and closely studied the grain. Once she approved of the load, she hooked the box to ropes dangling from above.

She whistled to another worker on a platform with four winches. He hit a switch, then started rotating all four together. Travis watched as the ropes became taunt, then lifted the crate. The crane's metal frame supported the cords as they zigzagged through a maze of pulleys. Once the box was over a scale with a metal-wheeled receptacle, two of the ropes loosened and dumped the entire load of grain onto the scale.

Meanwhile, the inspector continued to search the other four crates. When the first crate was placed back on the ground, outside the circle, she unhooked it and attached the second. "High-quality crates for high-quality grain," she mumbled as she watched them rise, "they don't spill grain out the seams."

Eventually, the crane loaded the entire shipment onto the scale. The inspector moved a square sliding weight on the bar until the two sides balanced. The marker on the scale pointed to a marking that read "200."

"Wanna give them for only enough for one hundred?" The crane operator spoke to the inspector.

She nodded to her compatriot before she turned to the group. "Five thousand for the lot." She held out five fingers to the group.

"Isn't it fiftwy per unwit?" Costasiella spoke, looking at the woman with an unimpressed expression. "We brwought two hundwred units."

"Shouldn't that be ten thousand?" Marin raised an eyebrow.

The woman looked flustered. "Yes, sorry!" She hastily wrote a slip with the correct value and offered it to Travis. "Take this to the worker at the entrance; he'll give you the proper amount." She spoke in a more natural rhythm compared to her prior sentences directed toward the group.

"Thank you." Travis accepted the yellow paper with a nod.

As he led the group back to the entrance, he heard the inspector and the crane operator whisper. "I didn't realize they could speak Koyin...."

"I didn't either, especially not the strange creature. I thought that was a pet or something!" The crane worker spoke in a hushed voice.

Travis couldn't help but chuckle to himself. He knew they looked like a ragtag group, but they were his crew, and he wouldn't have it any other way.

Author Notes!

Hello everyone!

I actually have a bit of a buffer thanks to writing on vacation! So that means I can go back to updating weekly! YAY! (At least for the next three weeks or so, but I hope I can finish this book by updating weekly!)

Thank you for reading!