Dragonworld: The Will For Power

Part 14: Watchers Of The Night

Eyes are everywhere

The situation was dire. If more funds weren't found fast, Akelon could find itself in a war it didn't have the resources to win.

Taufus Lanse knew how much the king wanted to find his pirate ancestor's lost headquarters. He hoped it would lead to his buried treasure.

He had scoured all the libraries of the city, and finally managed to find something which could unravel the mystery of the location of the old pirate fort. Among a stack of half decaying books, he discovered an old captain's diary. It was no ordinary captain, but rather one of his most daring commanders. 

Most other people would have missed it. Not Taufus. His careful and methodological way of working, often resulted in success where others would have failed. This time was no different.  The diary contained a series of coordinates.

This was a good start, however he still needed more clues to be able to pinpoint where to search. Checking out all the places listed in the book could take months, if not years. He needed to know which were the most promising candidates and which to discard.

Hurrying home, he pondered the situation at hand on the way. In his head, he once again walked through all the places he went through to search for clues. All the libraries. All the navy archives. All the old cellars dating to Bloodbeard's times.

Did he miss something?

"I am sure there was something I overlooked," Taufus muttered under his breath.

He would need to retrace his footsteps and do a more thorough search. Doing something twice always turns up new information.

In the earlier part of the day, he had been trying to plot the coordinates on several different maps with the help of a retired navigator. 

"How accurate are these maps?" He had asked, wondering whether they had the best maps at their disposal. 

"Well, the nearby territories are covered pretty well. But Bloodbeard often operated beyond the waters of the Green Sea. Some of the coordinates point to places which are not marked on any map I had seen previously," explained the old sea wolf. 

What a conundrum, he thought to himself. It didn't help that things could explode on the international scene at any time. Things needed to be done fast.

The next day, he was to meet Bulus once again. They would start planning the expedition to find Bloodbeard's fort. He needed to come up with solutions, otherwise the entire enterprise would end in disaster.

Then it hit him. While going through all the different materials, he had uncovered an old book describing old Bloodbeard's exploits. Much of these were well-known and recounted at the banquets around the city.

That's why he had only scanned it briefly, and then discarded it. However, now he recalled how detailed some of the descriptions of the places were. Many of these features were lost in the tales currently told. Maybe he should give it another look? 

As he trodded back home, Taufus didn't pay much attention to his surroundings. Walking in the dead of night, the streets were deserted. There was no one in sight. At least that's what he thought.

Yet, in the background, far away enough not to be seen, a pair of eyes were watching his every step.

--

Watchers of the Night

"What color are the chickens in Kalawat?" A shadowy figure was sitting in at the back of the room, eyeing the man who had just entered. His face was covered by a mask, only revealing the eyes.