Ayjax turned and strode up to the helm of his ship, "Red, I need your assistance."
"Wait, my assistance?" He quickly stumbled after the man, "What do you expect me to do?"
Ignoring the question, Ayjax stopped and eyed him carefully, "Good. You still have some mist left."
"I mean barely…but not sure why you need me…" Red glanced back at Derrin, who was still lying on the deck.
Ayjax climbed up the rest of the way and stopped in front of the ship's wheel, "This ship is one of the benefits that comes with being as powerful as I am. Unfortunately, most of its features need mist to properly utilize…including the steering."
"That seems kind of counterintuitive."
He shrugged, that simple motion seemed like it was enough to crack boulders, "You would think so, wouldn't you. But that isn't the real truth. There is no need to sit at the helm of this ship. It will steer on its own as long as the right coordinates are input. Much better than doing it manually, don't you think?"
"This ship can sail anywhere on its own as long as you tell it where? I didn't even know that was possible!" Red marvelled at the elaborate machinery.
"Secret of the trade," Ayjax grinned, "Unfortunately, that requires mist to input a command. I am out of mist at the moment, and it'll take me a few minutes to properly start regenerating after using my ultimate. Which is why I need you to do it for me?"
Red scratched his chin, "Why me, though? Derrin used much less mist than I did. I also know that he's much stronger than I am."
"He can't."
"What do you mean he can't? This isn't something about him being Monterlan, is it?"
"No. " He is unable to for another reason," Ayjax sighed. "If he hasn't told you himself, then it is not my place to tell." Having as many layers as I do gives me certain quirks when looking at other people's cores that you don't have. One thing you learn when being this powerful is when to be courteous to others."
Red stared at the man. A few minutes earlier, he had wanted to leave Derrin with the gearborn. Now he wanted to be courteous? The man was insane!
"And I take it…throwing people across the ocean doesn't fall in that category."
He laughed, "No, it certainly does not."
"Fine. But you owe me some answers. I still am not really sure why you are here in the first place, and despite you acting all friendly…I don't really know who you are."
"All in due time," He clapped Red on the shoulder, "Now, I need you to do this quickly. The faster we can set course away from that ship, the less likely it is to chase us. After my surprise goes off, they're not going to be going anywhere quickly, but we need to be away."
"Alright…wait, what surprise?"
Ayjax waved a hand, "This first."
Red glared at him, "Fine. What do you need me to do?"
"Grab hold of the wheel. Don't be shy, it doesn't bite."
"Does it throw me overboard?" Red asked.
He hesitated, "Only if it senses that you're an enemy."
"Wait, what! I was just joking. You mean it will actually throw me overboard!"
Ayjax scratched his beard, "Maybe…actually, I'm not totally sure. I haven't needed to test it before because nobody was stupid enough to touch my wheel before."
"You're saying I am?"
"If you are anything like your father," Ayjax gently pushed him towards the wheel.
Red couldn't help but stiffen at the mention of his father. He barely remembered him at all…even less so than his mother. He never could get a concrete answer about what happened to them anyway. All he knew for certain was that they left him alone to fight in the war over a decade ago and never returned.
Ayjax may be able to give him some answers. It wasn't like he was looking for closure or anything. He'd only known them for a few years of his childhood. Most of which he didn't remember. It was hard to feel a sense of loss over something like that.
Had he thought about what it would have been like to grow up with loving parents?
Definitely.
But he preferred to look towards the future rather than dwell on something like this. He'd known them for less than a quarter of his life, and that was that. It was better to focus on what would happen next.
Red looked at the ship's wheel cautiously. He wasn't sure he believed Ayjax's comment about it being capable of throwing people overboard. That seemed a little extreme. Then again, who knew with magic ships? This was his first one afterall. With a heavy sigh, he grabbed hold of the wheel.
The same ethereal voice from before spoke again, only this time it echoed through his mind, "Ah, young Redwynn Tidespinn. I am pleased to meet you. Poor Ayjax has been complaining about finding you for far too long. It is good to see that it has ended in success."
"Uh, Ayjax, why is the ship talking to me?"
Both Ayjax and the ship chuckled.
"Don't worry. Torrent is quite friendly."
"Does he have a habit of throwing people overboard?" Red glowered.
"I assure you that is only Ayjax's past time. I am far more focused on maintaining our image."
"Forgive me if that doesn't fill me with much confidence."
"Alright. Firstly, if you want to talk directly to Torrent, you just need to think about it. There isn't any need to talk out loud as long as you are holding the wheel."
Red nodded.
"Now, to set a location. You need to focus on where you want to go and envision it in your mind. Once you've got it fully focused, you send a burst of mist into the wheel, and that should set our destination."
"So where exactly are we going?"
"The Fallen Isles, of course…wait, you haven't been there, have you?" Ayjax paused, "Then there is one other way. I'm going to give you a set of numbers. Those are the coordinates to the Fallen Isles. If you focus on those numbers, it should act the same."
"5531 and 4765. That should do it for you."
Red concentrated on the numbers like Ayjax had said. 5531. 4765. When he was certain the numbers had been fully memorized, he sent a burst of mist into his palms, as if he were trying to heal them. He waited.
"Perfect. Well done. I should be able to correct our course now."
Ayjax patted him on the shoulder, "Well done. It usually takes people a few times to get it right."
"I thought you said no one had touched your wheel before…"
"When he said people, he more of meant himself."
"Torrent, don't be convincing Red that I'm an idiot."
"He doesn't need to," Red muttered, "I thought he talked only in my head?"
"It's my ship," Ayjax shook his head, "That should be it for now. I might need you just in case the Gearborn chases after us."
"Why didn't you just destroy all of them while you were there? I'm pretty sure that I'm not worth more than the destruction of one of those ships."
"I don't have the firepower for that alone. In an extended fight, I probably would have been able to kill the herald, but it would have left me too weakened to continue the assault, and since Torrent is linked to me…well, you get the idea."
"Instead, I damaged the ship enough that it will be hard for them to travel far. Of course, it is the sea we're talking about, so they might escape altogether, but I'm betting that they are going to high tail it back to their home sea. I should be able to get reinforcements and cut them off before that happens."
"What about the present you said you left behind? What was that anyway?" Red released the wheel and turned to face Ayjax.
"Oh, that thing," He smirked, "We should be far enough away for it to activate right about now."
Right on cue, a thundering roar erupted from somewhere in the storm. The sound was so loud it momentarily drowned out the terrible storm.
"What the hell was that?" Red yelped.
"My present," Ayjax grinned.
Red glared at him, "You are such a damn show off."