Amir rode closer to the wagon. The cloaked figure didn't move. Amir's horse slowed down and directly stopped in front of the man, as if asking for help. "Who are you?" Amir asked, still holding The Splasher.
The figure stepped forward revealing his face. "I'm a merchant." He said calmly, "get down from that horse boy, follow me and stay alive."
Amir hesitated for a minute but had to trust the man since he had no choice.
He climbed into the wagon while the man joined Amir's horse to his wagon and they fled.
After what felt like hours, the man stopped by a small coastal town. It was dark, and the streets were empty, except for a few lanterns hanging from doorways. The merchant led Amir through narrow, quiet corridor, finally stopping in front of a small, building.
"This is it," the man said. "You'll be safe here."
The merchant knocked on the door twice. A man with red beard opened and they walked in.
The merchant gave him a reassuring clap on the shoulder. "We'll leave at dawn. For now, get some rest."
Amir tired and helpless sank to the ground holding to his sword The Splasher, and dosed off.
At first flight the merchant woke him, get up we leave now.
Amir followed him back to the dock, where a small, ship waited. It was old, with sails that looked like they had seen better days, but it would carry them across the sea. The merchant helped Amir aboard. "Welcome aboard to the sea serpent." He said smiling.
As the ship pulled away from the dock, Amir watched the shore fade from view. The waves were calm, but the wind picked up, carrying hope of a new land.
The sea stretched out wide and quiet like the sky in Amir's eyes. The ship moved slowly, rocking back and forth with the waves. The wind was cold. Everything smelled differently.
Days passed on the ship. The merchant, whose name Amir still didn't know, seemed to be the only one who knew what he was doing. He moved around the ship with ease, shouting orders to the crew and making sure everything was in order.
One evening as the sun began to set, Amir sat alone on the deck, knees pulled up, arms around them. His eyes stared at the water, but all he could see was fire.
The fire of Assyria.
He remembered the screams. The smoke rising into the sky. Men, women and children being butchered like animals. Even the people he loved were killed.
Tears rolled down his cheeks, but he didn't wipe them. No one saw him cry.
Except one man.
Elias.
The merchant had been watching him from the other side of the ship. After a while, he walked over and sat beside him. His old bones made a sound as he sat, but he didn't speak at first.
"You lost your family," Elias finally said, not as a question, but like he knew.
Amir nodded slowly. His throat hurt too much to speak.
"I lost mine too," Elias said quietly. "Years ago."
Amir turned to him, surprised. "In a war?"
"No. In a storm."
Elias looked out at the sea, his eyes searching. "The sea takes just like war does. One moment they're there… and the next, gone."
" My wife and daughter were returning from a journey. I waited on the shore with open arms to receive them. Then came a storm, It wrenched the ship in my very eyes. I screamed and dived into the ocean, but i couldn't save them. Since then, I have been living in pain."
They sat in silence again. The waves kept rising and falling.
few of the men were sitting nearby, laughing and drinking from wooden mugs.
Amir watched them, curious. "Why do men drink so much?" he asked with a soft voice. "Even when the wine is bitter."
The merchant looked at him, his eyes thoughtful. He took a long sip from his own mug before answering.
"Wine is a way to forget. It makes the hard things easier. It dulls the pain, even if just for a little while. Life at sea is long, and men get tired of thinking. Sometimes, the only thing that makes them feel alive is the wine."
Amir didn't know what to say. He had always heard of people drinking for pleasure, but this was different. These men were drinking to escape.
He looked out at the horizon, where the sky was painted in shades of purple and gold. For a moment, the sea seemed endless, and the world felt both small and big at the same time.
"Do you drink?" Amir asked.
The merchant smiled softly. "Not anymore. I used to. But there's a price for everything. And the price of drinking is that you forget who you are. What the point surviving when you don't know who you are. "
Amir thought about this. It made sense, in a way. But there was something unsettling about the idea of using drink to forget.
"Do you have a name?" Amir asked. He had been thinking about it for a while. The merchant had never introduced himself, and Amir realized he didn't even know what to call him.
The merchant looked at him with a small smile. "You can call me Elias."
Amir nodded. "Elias," he repeated, as if testing the name. "Thank you for helping me."
Amir thought about that. It stayed in his mind, even as the days passed.
But the sea had its own plans.
Three days into their journey, the sky turned black.
Winds screamed like wild animals. Waves rose like mountains. The ship shook under the power of the storm and everything were falling including men. Sailors shouted drop the sails. Ropes snapped. The wooden boards cracked under their feet.
"Hold on to something!" Elias yelled, grabbing Amir and tying a rope around them both. Amir took The Splasher and hung around his neck, and held onto Elias's hand.
A huge wave slammed into the side of the ship, and it tilted hard. Rain poured so heavy it was hard to see. Lightning lit up the sky. Thunder crashed so loud it felt like the sky was breaking.
"Elias!" Amir shouted, panic in his voice.
The sound of wood breaking was heard. Men Screamed for help, while the waves kept raising and curling, water filled everywhere. Then the ship splited.
Amir was in the sea.
It felt cold, and he couldn't swim, he couldn't tell up from down. The waves pulled him under, threw him around like a doll. He couldn't breathe. As he lifted up his face, he saw a broken plank floated near him. He grabbed it and held on and climbed on it. He saw nothing. No ship. No men. No Elias.
Just the sea.
Hours passed, but time didn't exist in the water.
Then he lifted his eyes and saw seagulls flying in their direction land.
He saw a shore. Waves pushed him toward it like it was the only thing that mattered. He dragged himself onto the sand, coughing and shaking, barely alive.
The sky was blue again.
But the ship was gone.
And Elias…?
Amir looked around the shore, his heart pounding.
"Elias?"
No answer.
Only silence.
Only the sea behind him… and when he turn around, he saw warriors and their swords drawn out towards his throat.