ALoW Chp 1: Shipwrecked

Alexandra woke the next morning to the sound of knocking. She got up, dressed and opened the door. Jantril stood there, her eyes downcast. She glanced about the room. It had already been sparse before, but now it had an empty, hollow feel to it.

"You're really leaving..." she sighed.

Alexandra gave her a smile. "I heard you passed. You were even chosen by one of the prestigious masters. I congratulate you. You deserve this after all that work you put in."

"But what about you? You put so much effort into this! This was your dream! Maybe we could..." Alexandra cut her off.

"Enough, Jantril. There is no point. The majority of the Elders is against me. The High Elder himself wouldn't be able to overthrow them." she sighed, as she picked up her packs.

"But you're a Warrior! Not a scholar! What do you plan to do once you reach Sanctuary? Join the Academy?!"

"Jantril." Alexandra turned. "The Academy is not the only thing at Sanctuary. Many masters gather there, not to mention the headquarters for the Hunters."

Jantril's eyes widened. "The Hunters? You would be satisfied being some random mercenary?!"

Alexandra laughed, much to her friend's amazement. "I obviously will not be able to train under a master, so I will just have to teach myself."

Jantril burst into laughter. "Of course. i should have known. Only you would be that stubborn." She frowned. "You know, there are times where I wonder if you should have been born a draigon."

"Perhaps I'll meet one?" Alexandra smiled.

"You very well might. Other races are allowed into Sanctuary, after all. Just...stay clear of wolves." Jantril said. She stopped by a window. "I had one of my dreams last night."

"And what happens?"

"I...I do not really know. It was all jumbled together. But I saw a wolf and....a dragon." Jantril whispered.

"A dragon? Highly unlikely. Humans have all but slaughtered them. Still, I would have loved to meet one." Alexandra laughed and began walking down the hall again.

Jantril hesitated before following her. "You will, Alexandra Elarya. You will. And the two of you may be our only hope."

Alexandra paused at the doorway. Outside, a land glider waited to take her to the harbor. Before it stood a crowd of her friends. Hesitantly, she stepped out. Ardus stepped forward, a package in his arms.

"We all wanted to give you a going away gift. This seemed like the practical choice." He smiled.

Alexandra set her packs down, took the package, and ripped off the brown paper wrapping. She gasped at the sword in her hands. "I...I do not know what to say."

"Just promise us one thing." Ardus replied. She looked up at him. "Always remember the code, for you will always be one of us."

Alexandra belted the sword about her waist and drew it from its sheath. She flipped her head to her left, grabbed her hair, then cut it. She looked at her friends, her friends, her hair now falling only to her shoulders. "I swear that I shall always remain true to the Warriors' Code. I shall seek justice. I shall grant mercy. And i shall punish the darkest evils." She handed her hair to Ardus, and he wrapped a cord about the middle to keep it together.

"Now go, Alexandra Elarya." Ardus nodded. Again, her friends saluted her, as she sheathed her new blade and picked up her packs.

She paused at the lg and looked back. Her friends still saluted her. Silently, she swore another oath to them, 'I will become the Warrior you believe me to be.' She turned and entered the lg. Immediately, her packs were taken by a Guard and placed into the storage compartment. Another Guard sat by the door that led to the pilot's den, staring disinterestedly out the small window next to him. A few other passengers were already on board.

Alexandra chose a seat not far from the door.She felt the eyes of the other passengers on her. She was not surprised. In the Aldinairri culture, cutting one's hair had two meanings. The first one was making an oath. The second was fulfilling one.

With a slight shudder, the lg hummed to life. The first Guard sealed the door and sat down. As the lg rose from the ground, Alexandra closed her eyes. A single tear coursed down her cheek, and she immediately felt all eyes leave her. Briefly, she wondered what other races would do in a situation like this. Her thoughts were brightened by these thoughts. Living in the training facility, she had only had personal interaction. with fellow Aldinairri. But now...she was free. Once she reached Sanctuary, she would be free to go where she pleased.

She couldn't help but wonder if everything she had heard of the other races was true. Humans truly fascinated her. They were said to look remarkably like Aldinairri, yet they were....different. None of her instructors had deemed the difference worthy of discussing. Of course, it had been irrelevant to her training. Now she had a chance to learn answers to at least some of the questions she had.

Alexandra looked out the window next to her. They were over a forested area now, the tops of the trees just a few feet below them. She frowned and began searching the skies. For a brief moment, she thought she saw something, but a cloud passed in front of it. 'Or did it dive behind the cloud?' She quickly put it from her mind. Off in the distance, she could just make out the seashore. She had only been here once. It had been for a training exercise. It had been what could be called fun, though most Elder Aldinairri seemed to frown on such things, deeming them "too human-like".

She had had clashes with their teachings before. That was why the High Elder had been so surprised when she had withdrawn. He had been expecting her to challenge them. But she knew the Elders. With them, there was no point in arguing; you had to prove them wrong. And she couldn't. They had been right, had known they were right, and she had known it. So instead of disgracing herself, she had kept her honor and withdrawn. Which in a way was an act of defiance.

The lg touched down in a special landing field, the hum of its power crystals fading. Alexandra stood and took her packs from the Guard, and she stepped out of the vehicle. Her nose was immediately assaulted by a strong scent of fish. She took a deep breath, adjusting to it. The harbor was a very small village with a single dock, the only thing in the area being the Aldinairri training facility. The craft at the end of the pier was like everything else of Aldinairr make. Beautiful and elegant, but not extravagant. It was bigger than she expected, but then, thee were several other passengers.

As she stepped aboard, the captain gave her a slight bow. "Welcome aboard, please, if you will give your packs to a deckhand, they will be taken to your room."

Alexandra gave her packs to the deckhand and followed him. The room was small, consisting of just a bed and a nightstand. The deckhand set her packs on the bed and turned to her. "Feel free to move about the ship. Meals are served on the deck below this one at the three points of the day: dawn, midday, and sunset. You miss one, and you will have to wait for the next one." She nodded and stepped aside; the deckhand hurried off. After stowing her packs beneath her bed, she returned up to the top deck, stepping aside again as the other passengers went below to their rooms.

She frowned and glanced up. High up, a bird was soaring in slow circles. Her frowned deepened. She had always been known for her sharp eyes and quick intellect. Whatever it was, it was too high up. It turned, and for a brief moment, she saw its entire shape. The creature turned and flew northward.

The ship jolted slightly as it was untied from the pier. With a flapping sound, the sails were unfurled, quickly catching the wind. The shore quickly fell away from them as they headed out into deeper water. If the wind kept up like this, and nothing went wrong, they should be able to reach Sanctuary in a couple of weeks.

Fortunately, their first week went smoothly. At the beginning of the second week, the wind began picking up. Massive storm clouds could be seen in the distance, lightning flashing within the inky black mass.

The sailors rushed about, tying everything not secure down. The captain stood at the tiller, his face grim. Low, rumbling thunder could be heard in the distance, as the storm towered over them like a dread fortress.

The ship shuddered violently as it was assaulted by the wind, rain, and the churning sea. The wind howled and roared; the sea tossed the ship around as though it were a child's toy. Below, in the dimly lit eating area, the passengers sat in silence. None of them could remember the last time such a violent storm had struck.

Two days passed and still the storm raged on, with no end in sight. That night, those able to sleep were awoken by a loud creaking and snapping sound. the ship shuddered and rocked.

Not an hour earlier, one of the masts had been struck by lightning about a third of the way up from the base. It had snapped off now, weakened from the lightning and pounded ceaselessly from the sea. The storm was worsening.

A sailor came rushing into the dining area, completely drenched. "We are going to have to lose some of the cargo. With the loss of a mast, we're too unbalanced."

Alexander hurried with some of the others. Grabbing what she could, she ran with the others up to top deck, throwing what she had overboard. Looking up, her heart froze in terror at the sight before her. A massive wave loomed over them. Alexandra closed her eyes as the very breath was knocked out of her. Her world was spinning, twisting, swirling. Her head struck something solid, and she lost all senses...
~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

With a groan, she felt herself stirring. Beneath her, she felt sand, while gentle waves ran over her lower body.

Her eyelids were crusted over with salt, but she managed to open them. She squinted as her eyes tried to adjust to the bright light of the sun. With another groan, she managed to push herself up enough to survey her surroundings. She was on a beach on what she knew was the mainland. Wreckage from the ship littered the beach. She tried to stand up, but she fell back down with a cry. She had landed on her sword, which was still belted around her waist. Painstakingly, she managed to crawl out of the shallows, and the tide, and up onto the grassy bank. She stopped in the shade of a tree, managing to push herself into a sitting position. with her back against it. Exhausted, her eyes closed and she sank back into unconsciousness.

She stirred at the sound of voices. "Blast it all! Look at this! Looks like a ship got caught in that storm!" a gruff voice said.

"Hey, I found a girl!" a younger voice called out.

There were several sharp intakes of breath. "An Aldinairr!" "Is she alive?" "Yeah, I can see her breathing." "How do you know she's an Aldinairr?" "Hair so silver it's almost white, greyblue skin, and you smell her blood? They smell slightly stronger than humans."

"Step aside!" A new voice said. "What have we got here?"

"An Aldinairr, female. Washed up on shore when her ship went down. No other survivors, it looks."

"She's alive?"

"Yes."

The newest voice, their leader evidently, spoke again. "How bad is she?"

"If we took her back to camp, she'd make a full recovery." Immediately, a quarrel broke out. They all fell silent as they heard a raspy sound.

"W.....at....er...." Alexandra managed to croak. Her voice was rough and scratchy. She managed to open her eyes. It was dark, but her race had excellent night vision.

"What?" the man next to her asked.

"Wa...ter...." she winced at the dryness of her throat. The man caught what she was saying and uncorked his canteen. Very carefully, he tilted her head back and trickled water into her mouth, forcing her to drink slow.

The leader pointed to the wreckage. "Was that yours?"

She nodded weakly. "We...were headed...to Sanctuary." She managed to say.

The leader frowned. "Sanctuary? But you're a Warrior."

Alexandra laughed, which turned into a cough, causing her to wince. After drinking some more water, she answered. "I was forced to withdraw from my Trial." She looked u pat the leader. "If you don't want me in your camp, just leave the canteen and some food. I know wolves prefer to keep to themselves."

The leader sighed and shook his head. "You can barely move, let alone manage. No. I cannot just leave you here like this." He pointed to the wolf next to her. "Lytarus, you found her, she's your charge. Take her to Mera when we get to camp."

Lytarus nodded and carefully lifted Alexandra up. He gave her a wry smile and took off with the rest of his pack. She was amazed that he was able to stay with them; she hadn't realized just how strong wolves were. She was truly honored; wolves may have been honorable, but many Aldinairri saw them as a barbaric race, living in the southern edge of the continent. Nomadic from what she had heard.

Through the trees ahead, she could see firelight. Her ears picked up the sound of voices, music, and laughter. There were children's voices mingled with the adults. The pack slowed down as they stepped into the small settlement.

Silence fell as Alexandra was spotted. The hostility in their eyes died as they saw how weak she was. The leader, clearly the Alpha of this pack, explained how they found her.

A wizened old woman stepped forward. "Let me see the wounded one." The crowd respectfully fell back. The old woman took a long look at her. "Hmm, it is fortunate indeed that your race is close to humans. Tell me, child, how old are you?"

"I just turned forty-three years of age." Alexandra answered.

There were several gasps from the people gathered, but old Mera simply nodded. "Still so young? You look slightly older. Something about your eyes." She looked at Lytarus. "Come. Bring her to my tent, then you may go eat with the rest." Lytarus followed her through the crowd to the old woman's tent. He felt the girl in his arms go limp. Mera watched as he laid Alexandra carefully on a cot. "The poor dear. Who knows how long she was adrift out there, at the mercy of the sea."

"Days, I'd say. No fewer than two?" Lytarus replied.

Mera nodded. "At the least. Now, go on. Off with you!" She smiled, playfully shoving him out. Once he was gone, Mera's face grew grim. She sighed as she inspected the girl: her whole body was covered in bruises, and Mera was certain of at least two cracked ribs. Not to mention the gash on her head. Mera shook her head; the girl was lucky to be alive. In fact, it was an outright miracle. The old wise woman had her work cut out for her.