[Inwe Ringil]

The hawks golden eyes glared at them, and then he flapped his wings and flew over behind a large rock. When he emerged from behind the rock, he was in his human shape again, but he had stubble on his chin and cheeks, and he wore a gray fur vest over his leather cloths; and at his hip was a pouch that jingled. He was running his hands through his hair, purposely musing it. As he passed the two boys he hissed, “Discard the cloaks and be ready to leave.”

Seithenin and Annubi did as they were told and waited in the boat. They say Bay grab a swarthy sailor and began to talk to him, at first, they exchanged insults about each other parentage and birth, until finally Bay asked him about sailing the boat. Then they haggled with the price, Bay really didn’t care how much he had to pay the man, he could make more when he switched shapes. They settled on five gold crowns now and ten when they got there. He handed the man the gold, then the man grinned. “Nice to be doin’ business with ya.” he said in his gruff, heavy voice. “My name’s Koldane.”

As they walked over to the boat, Bay flashed them a grin and gave them a thumbs-up.

Koldane stopped to look at the boat, then at the sky, “You know, we should wait until after the Brisan* to pass over.” He told Bay and looked pointedly at the sky, “If we wait, I’ll even shave five damned g-crowns of the price.” He crossed his arms.

Bay was standing next to Koldane and a movement caught his eye. He turned his head slightly and saw a troop of soldiers, the insignia on their breastplates had been hastily painted over. Bay had seen these men before, most particularly, the captain; his name was Gilgamesh, and he was evil incarnate. He knew them because his own father, Ban, had been arrested by these men; Bay had been small, but at that moment he decided he would follow his father’s path. Their appearance here might have only been a coincidence, but he wasn’t going to take that chance. They had Macit, she was their leader, the only one who had all the names of the rebels, their headquarters and hide outs, those under fake names, those who were undercover in the government, and those who were supposed to be dead. Bay was one of those, it meant the Legions of Terror could kill him at anytime without question, he was supposed to be dead anyway.

Bay snapped his head around and looked at Koldane, “I’ll add five crowns if we leave NOW!”

Koldane’s mouth dropped open; he looked at Bay to see if he was serious. Bay was dead serious, if he wasn’t he might soon be dead, and Annubi and Seithenin with him.

Koldane glanced behind him and saw the soldiers who were beginning to ask questions and searching houses. “Right, you have problems with the authorities, so do I; I’d have a life-long stint in a coalmine if they catch me.” Then they clambering into the boat and let the ebbing tide carry them out.

“Get down.” Bay hissed quietly, to everyone. Seithenin understood, Bay wanted it to appear that the boat had come loose from its moorings and was floating off.

They stayed in that cramped position for a good twenty minutes until land was just a green strip on the horizon.

~ * ~
I have finally commandeered my computer during the day. *grins wickedly*

(NOTE: A BRISAN* IS AS YOU HAVE PROBABLY GUESSED, A REALLY BAD STORM)