The Mad Voyage of Prince Malock Read Online Free PDF Page B

hall. He held his
hand over his nose the entire time, however, until they climbed the
stairs up to the top deck.
    As they emerged from the hatch, Malock spread his
arms as wide as possible and said, “Welcome to the top deck of the Iron Wind , Kinker. Be amazed by its size and
magnificence.”
    The top deck of the Iron Wind was indeed
large and wide open, much more open than the middle deck was. The
awful smells were still present, but they were mixed with the
fresh, salty air of the sea. For once, Kinker felt like he could
breathe freely on this ship.
    But it wasn't quite as magnificent as Malock thought
it was; for example, the foremast, the mainmast, and the mizzenmast
were in various states of disrepair. In particular, their sails
looked like they'd been patched together by someone who didn't know
how to sew. The ratlines appeared mostly intact, but he spotted a
few snapped ropes here and there that no one had bothered to
repair.
    And then there were the sailors. This was the first
time Kinker had seen the crew of the Iron Wind. From what he could
see, most were human, but there was definitely a large minority of
aquarians present. Having never spent much time around aquarians,
Kinker watched in fascination as one aquarian, who had tentacles in
place of legs and a head that closely resembled that of a squid's,
squashed by, swabbing the deck alongside two humans.
    The crew looked like most sailors: tough, rough, and
hardworking. There were at least fifty or so present; steering the
ship, adjusting the sails, cleaning the deck (although that looked
like a losing battle to Kinker), and doing various other things
that the crew of a sailing ship generally needed to do. Few of them
took notice of Kinker, and those few that did only glanced at him
briefly before returning to their work.
    Another thing Kinker noticed about the crew was how
beaten up many of them looked. Back on Destan, it wasn't uncommon
to see sailors who had stitches, scars, and other things to
indicate injury, but many of the sailors on board the Iron
Wind looked like they had been through a war. One human sailor,
for example, was missing his entire left arm, while an aquarian
sailor who was scrubbing the mainmast had only one foot, the other
having been replaced by a block of wood that vaguely resembled a
peg leg. Many of them had gaunt faces, like they hadn't had a good
meal in a long time.
    The ship in general had an air of disrepair about
it. True, the crew appeared to have done their best to keep the
ship in shape, but if Kinker hadn't seen the crew, he would have
thought that the Iron Wind was a ghost ship.
    Just then, someone behind him said, in a refined
voice that took Kinker by surprise, “Could you please move so I can
go down the hatch?”
    Kinker turned around and was shocked to see a giant
of a man standing before him. A long, thick scar ran from his crown
down the side of his face to his chin, but besides that he appeared
to lack the major wounds that most of his fellow sailors did.
    He looked down on the three with the intelligent
eyes of a scholar, which contrasted sharply with his massive
physical body. In his right hand he carried a short wooden staff,
more like a wand really, which he held like a sword.
    “There you are, Bifor,” said Malock with a smile,
patting Kinker on the shoulder. “Bifor, meet Kinker Dolan, our
newest fisherman. Kinker, meet Bifor Kamon, our ship's resident—and
only—mage.”
    Bifor nodded at Kinker. “Pleased to meet you,
Kinker. I assume you are the man that Vashnas rescued from the sea
about a week ago?”
    “Yes,” said Kinker. He looked at Malock and said,
“Wait—it was Vashnas who saved me?”
    “Yes, of course she did,” said Malock. “Didn't we
mention that earlier? She somehow spotted your boat through the
storm and wanted to rescue you. Tried to convince her it was too
dangerous, but she didn't listen. I almost thought she was going to
die with you, but thankfully you both