Adrian stepped onto the docks. He wasn't wearing his hauberk, but he did have leather armor, a round shield, and a mace strapped to his back. His gear caught the attention of the guards on the docks, though they only raised their eyebrows at him before returning to whatever they were doing.
"You and you, stay and protect the boats. The rest, come with me to the market for trade," Hedley commanded. As the steward's trusted man, Hedley was the one handling the transactions. He pointed at two guards, and luckily, Adrian wasn't chosen, he was eager to explore the town.
Carrying a large jar on his shoulder, Adrian followed the group, his eyes wandering.
"Hey, watch it!"
"Did you hear about the Lord's daughter?"
"Shh... are you mad?"
"The ships have arrived carrying gossip from the capital."
"Did you hear about the pirates?"
They passed many new faces, all talking and gossiping about things that had never reached his village.
Adrian, usually never one for gossip, found himself wanting to join in and listen to their stories.
They soon reached the market area. Hedley, already familiar with the place, quickly navigated to certain stalls and stores to begin bargaining. One such shop sold clothing, part of the list of items the villagers back home had asked Adrian to buy.
He stepped in to start trading, but to his delight, Hedley saw him, stepped forward, and grabbed the list.
He volunteered to handle everything for Adrian.
Adrian was stunned by the man's helpful attitude, but then he figured it was probably related to his family name. He took it as a pleasant surprise, as it allowed him to focus on his surroundings.
"Two pennies for this?" Adrian asked, pointing at a grilled fish. The owner grumbled into his beard, "You want it, pay for it, otherwise, leave. I added herbs and spices to it, so it's expensive."
Adrian hesitated for only a moment before buying some. After blowing off the heat, he took a bite and found the taste quite good. He walked around the market, making sure he didn't stray too far from his group.
Suddenly, two people on horseback dashed through the market, laughing as they chased each other.
People hurriedly scrambled out of the way, Adrian saw one person trip as they tried to dodge the horses.
"I got you!"
"No, you didn't! Race you back to the castle!"
The two riders soon disappeared around a corner, and the market returned to its usual rhythm.
"Hey, who was that?" Adrian asked a man pulling a cart.
"Oh, that? Those were the Baron's children. They like to ride through town. Part of the game, I guess, is dodging people and taking tight corners."
"The Baron, eh..." Adrian muttered. He knew very little about the local Lord besides scant rumors, so he didn't think much of it, taking another bite of fish as he continued his exploration.
_________
"A Serena?"
"Aye. They say they attacked the islands because the fools there fished around Serena territory." a man said.
Adrian brows knitted thoughtfully as he joined a small group playing cards and sharing news.
One particular piece of information caught his attention: the Serena, a race that lives underwater.
Supposedly, their kingdom lies far out at sea.
He knew other races existed, elves, giants, dwarves, orcs, goblins and more, but because of the strange dreams he sometimes had, he struggled to believe they were real.
He remained skeptical, especially since he had never seen a non-human in his fifteen years of life. Then again, he hadn't explored much outside his village, this was the first real town he had ever reached.
"Now, some forces from the Maglu Islands have turned to piracy. There are more pirates now than ever before," grumbled an old man who had just lost a few pennies.
"Have any of you ever seen a Serena in person?" Adrian asked. As far as he knew, they had pale blue skin and gills, but that was the extent of his knowledge.
"I did," said a man with a scar on his neck. Eager to tell his tale, he immediately prattled on. "I was a sailor on the old Korack when a storm overtook us..."
"For God's sake, I don't want to hear that story again," someone grumbled from the side.
"Hey, this lad wants to hear it! If you don't like it, walk away," the scarred man snapped before turning back to Adrian.
"Anyway, the storm took us. Waves the size of castles nearly devoured our ship. A few of us survived, but the ship was destroyed and our food was gone. We were sailing toward certain death."
Adrian leaned back slightly as the man leaned closer, his breath a bit too foul to stomach.
"And then... that's when we saw sharks rising from the water. At first, we thought they were there to eat us, but as they surfaced, figures were riding on their backs. Serenas."
Adrian narrowed his eyes slightly, and the man continued.
"Pale blue skin with white markings on their bodies, peace markings, I heard, signifying they are allied with humans nearby. Through the help of several sea creatures, these Serenas guided our ship to an island and gave us fish for food. I heard their leader speak, but it was a language I couldn't understand before they disappeared back into the ocean."
"Where do they live?"
"The ocean, of course," someone chirped sarcastically.
The scarred man answered, "Northeast of the Maglu Islands, right in the center of the narrow sea. Supposedly, there is a small, solitary island there, and underneath it is the kingdom of the Serenas."
The Maglu Islands, as far as Adrian knew, were outside the territory of the Sunhaven Kingdom and ruled by different factions.
Beyond that, he knew little, aside from stories of a Maglu prince who crossed the ocean to another continent and returned with immense wealth.
"Well..." Adrian, judging he had strayed a bit far from his group, decided to leave. "Thanks for the story. Here." He gave his leftover bread to the man, who grabbed it gladly and took a bite.
"Don't worry about it, lad."
Adrian found his group already hauling goods back to the boats and immediately helped them. "I completed the list. Here are the remaining coins," Hedley said, handing him a pouch that felt much lighter than before.
"Thank you."
"No worries," Hedley waved his hand. "How do you like the town so far?"
"It feels like there's still so much to explore," Adrian responded genuinely.
Hedley laughed and patted him on the shoulder. "Don't worry. You'll probably be escorting the boats frequently now. It'll take an hour or two before the river calms down, so you still have time to look around."
Adrian took the chance to explore more of the town, but less than an hour had passed when he noticed a commotion coming from the direction of the beach.
"What's going on?"
"It's the docks!"
Mutterings erupted around him. Adrian strode toward the shore. He quickly reached the area and, despite the growing darkness, he could see why the town was called Whitesand. But what caught his attention immediately was a burning ship and two longships filled with unfriendly warriors. Arrows began to fly, whistling toward the people on the docks by the ocean.
"Enemy attack!"
"Shit..." Adrian cursed, instinctively grabbing his shield and unhooking his mace.
He saw a squad of guards emerge from a side street and sprint toward the docks. The two longships were nearly at the shore, cutting the distance at quick speed as the raiders rowed hard.
"It's raiders from the Maglu Islands!" someone screamed. "They've gone insane! Pirating is one thing, but provoking the kingdom like this?!"
A crowd gathered around Adrian, watching the chaos unfold. He hesitated, his grip tightening on his mace. Should he help, or should he mind his own business?
On the beach, the battle began. The Maglu raiders leaped from their ships, swimming the short distance to the shore to clash with the town guards.
"Ah, hell..." Adrian muttered. He judged that this was the town's matter, they had guards who were likely better trained than he was. He immediately turned around and sprinted back to their boats.
"What's happening?" Dexton asked urgently as soon as Adrian came into view. "Raiders. From the Maglu Islands, it seems."
The group's expressions shifted instantly, some paled, while Hedley's face grew complicated and grim.
"Should we help?" Garly asked, his voice shaking as he adjusted his grip on a heavy crate.
"We're just traders and village guards, not proper soldiers." another man added, wiping sweat from his brow.
Dexton turned to Hedley, and then looked toward Adrian, much to the young man's confusion.
"We shouldn't," Hedley finally said, though his eyes remained fixed on Adrian. "The town has more people, and it won't fall so easily."
'Why are they all looking at me like that?' Adrian thought, refusing to entertain the idea that they were waiting for his input.
What did he know about this type of situation, anyway? He was just a boy with a shield.
"I agree with Hedley," Adrian said firmly.
"Aye... let's get moving then," Dexton muttered, already untying the primary moorings.
"The Baron has more guards than Lord Harrow's castle combined." Hedley added, trying to reassure himself as much as the others. "They'll hold."
The decision was unanimous. Everyone piled into the three boats and began to row, setting off back toward their village.
Adrian looked back at the disappearing town and the dark smoke rising in the distance. He offered a silent prayer to the God of Light, hoping the situation wouldn't spiral out of hand and the town came out victorious.