5 days later

  The sun shone high in the middle of the sky when the pair of brothers arrived in the city of Jovin. It looked exactly like how they’d left it, except most of the burning was partially repaired. The smell of beach breeze wafted through the air and Morwin couldn’t help but suck a deep breath in. Although Jovin City didn’t bring pleasant memories, a part of him was glad to be back. Judging by the sun’s position in the sky, it had to be noon when they arrived.

  “We’re not too late,” Galvin said. Last time Morwin was here, he had a crew of six or seven. Now, it was just his older brother.

  Morwin’s feet ached. He flew and walked and flew some more. He didn’t realize how much that would wear him down until they’d arrived to Jovin. Hopefully the ship had a good place for him to rest.

  He really wanted some amethysts in his pouch right about then. However, the only gemstone they’d brought with them was opals. At the very least, he wanted to stop and sit down and rest, but Galvin showed no signs of sharing that desire. His brother continued plowing forward into the city.

  “Here’s where you use your opals,” he said. Galvin’s appearance than started to shift and change, his face morphing, changing from a young battle-hardened fighter to an older gentleman wearing a top-hat and a cane for walking. Almost in the image of Saelsgar, except this old man was more plump.

  Morwin closed his eyes and Absorbed in some opal, running through his mind as the elusive essence overflowed him, filling every corner of his body. Who should he become?

  He could feel his face changing, his height growing slightly taller, and his skin morphing to encompass the new body he’s created for himself.

  “No,” Galvin said. “You can’t turn into Lord Seldam. You’d draw too much attention to yourself.”

  Morwin didn’t even realize that was the person he’s chosen. His subconscious must have linked that man to this place, and his mind followed what was in his subconscious, and out came the Lord of the town.

  Morwin exhaled and let the essence evaporate from his body, changing his looks back to himself.

  Morwin Absorbed in some more of the opal essence. His perceived height shrank. His arms dropped much lower. Morwin had decided to go with the appearance of a child, what he looked like ten years from then.

  Because of his exhaustion, his imagination wasn’t… on point. He just wanted to cast the spell and be on with it without giving it too much thought. Of course, he focused on Illusion from the opal rather than disguise. He remained the same height, only others saw him as a child.

  “Let’s go,” Morwin’s voice said. He cackled. “Let’s go,” he tried again, this time the power of illusion changing the sound of his voice to make it higher pitched.

  “Wait,” Galvin said. “There’s another reason why opals are the only gemstones I brought with us. They have this ability to hide their presence to Dragikiri who are trained to detect gemstones. Surely De’Shai is smart enough to station some Dragikiri in Jovin City, so just use your opals to hide its own presence, okay?”

  Morwin nodded.

  Together, the two of them entered the city. Morwin recognized the streets they walked through. He wanted to forget them. He didn’t know why he didn’t like being in Jovin City, he just did. The culture there was different from what he was used to back home. Here, people were rowdy. So rowdy they needed to have three bars within the city to meet demand.

  As they walked through the cobblestone streets, Morwin couldn’t help but notice several portraits posted along poles, gates, doors, and on building walls. A lot of them were pictures of the two of them along with Darius. Hand drawn portraits which captured their every detail to a crisp.

  Morwin frowned, but Galvin kept ushering him along. “Best to ignore those,” he said.

  “They really want us captured.”

  Galvin scoffed. “Yeah they do. But they’re not going to get to you. To us, maybe, but you’ll be long gone.” He paused. “And be back with an army hopefully,” he added.

  They strolled through town, sightseeing, until they finally made their way to the docks. It was in the southwest portion of the town, and the docks took a lot of space. A wooden pier stood erect with huge gaps to anchor in ships coming in and leaving.

  Morwin saw many more men stationed at the ships that were leaving, rummaging through the entire vessel to make sure nothing unauthorized left.

  “Where do the ships go when they leave?” Morwin asked.

  Galvin shrugged. “I don’t know. But they have to go somewhere,” he replied. “I sometimes like to dream about the type of places we can find beyond the seas. It’s always been a childhood fantasy of mine that one day we’d be able to see things across the seas, you know?”

  “Then why don’t you go on this mission?” Morwin asked. “I can stay behind and lead Justicar to victory against the king, you convince the king or leaders of whatever nation is out there to send an army to us, and with our combined forces, we’ll be able to destroy them. Plus, you’d be able to fulfill what you wanted. It’s a foolproof plan!”

  Galvin let a smile spread on his lips and shook his head. “That can’t happen and the both of us knows that. You have to be the one to see the country beyond the seas. You’re the diplomat, remember? Besides, I need to stay here for Justicar. I have work to do after seeing you off here.”

  “I’m just another piece of the puzzle, then?” Morwin asked.

  Galvin smiled. “Always. Now follow me. If the people that agreed to meet me have arrived, then we should find them somewhere on the pier.”

  Morwin examined all the ships docked. Each one was slightly different except for a difference here and there. One may have a smaller deck and more cargo room underneath, some might have a bigger deck, some have a bigger mast. And all the flags that flew high above were different.

  Sightseeing the ships made him realize that Galvin had completely disappeared from sight. “Galv?” Morwin called.

  Morwin moved up to one of the buildings on the pier and looked around the corner. He saw Galvin there, speaking with someone, and handing him a glass bottle with some object inside, wrapped neatly and tucked away. The two of them were talking as if they’d been friends for a while.

  “What’s a kid like you doing in a place for adults?” someone spoke to him. Morwin turned his attention to see a brutish figure in front of him, with muscles on his muscles and wearing a green tank top. He had a pipe in his mouth and puffed on it periodically. “You need to get back to your parents. This place isn’t safe for kids.”

  “Don’t worry about me,” Morwin said, using some opal essence to disguise the tone of his voice so it’s higher pitched. The man moved in to grab Morwin by the hand, or the hand that was a foot lower than it was supposed to be, and his hands slipped right through the illusion.

  Morwin’s heart stopped. The man stood there, eyes wide, staring at Morwin and then at his hands.

  Opals are used to trick the weak-minded. You can’t just use them and expect that whatever illusion is there will hold. It will only fool those who aren’t aware they’re being fooled. If they know it’s an illusion, it won’t be anymore to them. Morwin could hear Galvin’s voice ringing in his mind.

  The gig was up. They’d been found.

  “You’re…” the man started. Morwin was about to reach for his dagger underneath his cloak.

  He stopped himself from wrapping his hand on the dagger. Could he do it though? This man was just a concerned citizen. He just wanted Morwin to be safe. Could he attack this innocent man for such a petty reason?

  He realized he couldn’t. If he couldn’t attack to protect himself from a passerby, what hope did he have of doing the same to Lord De’Shai, the man who raised him for so long?

  The man took a step back. “You’re him. You’re the guy on the posters plastered around town. You fought against the minister of war himself, posing as his son for so long.” Morwin’s disguise failed against this man. He realized what Morwin was. To everyone around him, they saw him as the same kid, but this man saw Morwin as he truly as.

  “You’re… a hero,” the man spoke.

  What? Well, Morwin certainly wasn’t expecting that.

  The man leaned in to his ears. “Other people still see you in your disguise, right?”

  Morwin nodded.

  “Good. You don’t know how many people all across Agnius support your cause. Although they won’t outright say it, we’re here, in the shadows, and we’re rooting for you.”

  And just like that, the man stuffed his hands in his pockets and walked the other direction, whistling to himself.

  Morwin let out a breath. What a relief. He turned to where Galvin was and started walking towards him.

  “What was in the bottle?” Morwin asked, pointing at the bottle the other man held in his hands.

  “Nothing,” Galvin answered. “Arrangements have been made. May I introduce you to Captain Mikael. He’s the one that’s going to be in charge of your safe passage to the country across the seas.”

  “Aylin Islands,” the man, Captain Mikael, spoke. “Pleasure to meet you.” He turned back to Galvin. “Although, now that your faces are plastered everywhere, don’t you think it might be a tad risky for me to harbor a wanted fugitive on my ship for such a long time? And if they find out, my crew and myself will be in heaps of trouble!”

  Galvin sighed. “We’ll double your rate upon your return. Once we know the package is there and safe.”

  Captain Mikael took off his hat and put it against his chest, giving Galvin a bow. “Aye, now that’s what a man like me likes to hear. Morin was it? No worries lad, with you in my care, no harm will come to you.”

  Behind the man, his crew was wheeling crates off a ramp and bringing it to the port. Morwin pointed to them. “What’re in those?”

  “Oh, you know, things. Imports. Melons, cranberries, grapes, you name it. Exotic fruits you won’t find here.”

  Morwin walked up to a crate and took a whiff. It sure did smell exotic.

  “This is no place for a kid,” someone else said. Morwin looked up and his heart skipped a beat. Standing there was a man whom he’d met in the city before, Lord Seldam.

  He popped open a crate and picked up a reddish berry and plopped it into his mouth. Morwin took a step back. He was going to be careful and not let the disguise fade this time.

  “Apologies. He’s with us. A deckboy, if you will,” Captain Mikael declared.

  Lord Seldam nodded. “These berries are sweet. Do they all have to go to Rathalin?”

  Captain Mikael let out a hearty laugh. “If you want to steal a crate from the bloody king of Agnius, then I say have at it! But I won’t play a part when your head is on a pike.”

  Lord Seldam glanced at the berries, considering it for a moment, before chuckling himself. “No, that’s quite alright. I prefer my head undamaged upon my neck.” With that, he turned away and started retreating back.

  “Come on, lad,” Captain Mikael said, ushering for the ship. “And take your weapon off your body. We’re merchants in the ocean, not pirates.”

  Morwin nodded and unbuckled his sword from where it sat on his hip. His illusion shimmered as he did so.

  Captain Mikael took the weapon from his hand and gave it to Galvin before retreating back to his ship.

  Morwin followed him. He turned around and gave Galvin a nod before boarding the ship. Good luck he could see Galvin’s lips move, saying those words.

  Morwin waited until the crew finished unloading the boxes onto the dock. He stared as big muscular men worked, moving back and forth. Galvin remained there the entire time, making sure to see his departure.

  At last, Captain Mikael made the call that they were departing. “I have to go report my leave to the people in charge of this dock. The king’s men. I’ve heard that they’ve been more strict in recent weeks, so I can’t leave without letting them know. It’s best if you hop into one of the empty boxes and just stay there for the time being.”

  Morwin found an empty box sitting on the deck and pried its lid open. He crawled into it and shut it, his heart beating with nervousness. He let the illusion die out, allowing all the opal essence to leave his body. He wished the sapphire necklace was still with him, but he’d unfortunately lost it back in Rathalin. Ever since then, he’s felt as if he’d lost a part of himself.

  Please let nothing go wrong, he thought.

  Within minutes, more footsteps rattled on the deck. More than the amount of crew this ship had.

  Morwin pried the lid open and saw they wore colors of Agnius. They were here to make sure nothing unauthorized left.

  “It says here, there are ten men in your crew,” the man at the front, presumably the one in charge, said while holding a clipboard and flipping through the pages in front of him.

  Captain Mikael nodded. “Yes, that’s right, sir.”

  “Then you won’t mind if I have a look?”

  “No, not at all,” the captain said. Even from here, Morwin could make out the clear nervousness in his voice.

  Captain Mikael called for all his crew to be present on the deck for a quick roll call.

  The men started to go around and pry the lids off some of the boxes. Morwin’s heart started racing. What was he going to do?

  He closed the lid as one of the men approached his own crate.

  “No no, not that one!” Captain Mikael yelled across the deck. Following the sound of his yelling, scurried footsteps rang out. “That one is full of rotten berries. With a vulgar smell to it.”

  “You sure? Don’t smell vulgar to me,” the voice said back. In the pitch black, Morwin could hear the sound of his own heartbeat. He needed to do something fast.

  He Absorbed as much opal as he could. He had to make this illusion as real as possible. If even something were to go wrong, then the whole illusion would die, and he would be exposed.

  Not only would that put Galvin and all of Justicar at risk, it would endanger the men on this ship, and especially Captain Mikael. He couldn’t let that happen.

  He envisioned the berries he saw earlier, the red juicy ones. Only, they needed to be not as vibrantly colored. Maybe a little bit of mold.

  In his mind, he saw what his illusion would create. Yes, perfect. A bunch of berries that looked like they’d been sitting out in the sun for three days straight. Moldy and bad.

  The man popped the lid, letting the light strike at Morwin’s eyes. Smell, smell!

  Morwin envisioned the worst smelling thing he’d ever smelt in his life. When he was younger, he often played outside, running around in the courtyard of his father’s palace.

  As he ran by the stables, the smell of the horse’s manure would reach his nose. And it was putrid!

  No, that wouldn’t do. Moldy berries wouldn’t smell like feces. He needed something else.

  The world seemed to stand still. He closed his eyes and focused, thinking back, reaching into the deep corners of his mind.

  One of the servants let out a shriek that came from the kitchen. Footsteps rang out and there were five people in there at once, one of them being Morwin. In the middle of the kitchen floor was a dead rat, its stench putrid. It made his stomach turn. The place had to be cleaned from head to toe after that incident.

  Yes, a rat’s rotting corpse would do it for the smell, only it needed to be sweeter. Morwin’s illusion smelled of what he wanted it to. He almost threw up being surrounded by the putridness of what he’d created.

  The man let out a groan of disgust as the lid pulled back completely. “Yeah, you weren’t kidding about this one. It smells like dung!” The man quickly replaced the lid, and Morwin could hear the sound of receding footsteps.

  He breathed a sigh of relief. Now, all he had to do was remain completely still, which wasn’t too hard for him to do.

  He waited in the darkness, the sound of men talking was all he heard, although he couldn’t quiet discern what they were saying.

  After about ten minutes, the lid popped open. “Nice one,” Captain Mikael said. “That’s a neat trick you’re able to do.”

  “Thanks,” Morwin said as he stood up and hopped out of the box. “Since you knew I was creating an illusion, were you able to see the berries?”

  The captain let out a laugh. “I saw no berries. Just you, in there, crammed up, sweat rolling off your face and a nervous look about you. You should have seen it, it was hilarious!”

  He turned around. “Men! I want you all to meet Morwin. He will be joining us on this voyage back to the Aylin Islands. Don’t tell anyone though, or else we’ll be in big trouble.”

  His men saluted with shouts of affirmation. Morwin stood there awkwardly, hands behind his back. He didn’t very much like being the center of attention, and it triggered his anxiety.

  “Thanks… for having me aboard,” he struggled to get out. He turned around and walked towards the stairs leading to the lower deck. Even from there, he could still hear the captain’s hearty shouts as he gave instructions to his men to raise the anchors and to set sail.

  On the lower deck, there were more boxes around. Did the guards run through all of them?

  He pried one open and gasped at what he saw. In front of him, many gemstones lay, ranging from rubies to sapphires and emeralds, to topazes and some he didn’t recognize.

  But one thing about them was certain: they held no essence. He picked one up and rubbed it around his fingers. It didn’t have the same feel as a normal gemstone. It felt like… a piece of brick. Definitely fake.

  He put the fake gemstone back and replaced the lid, continuing to explore the lower deck of the ship.

  Then a rocking sensation came. He ran to the windows to look out. The ship had started moving, and it was sailing away from the port.

  Was this really happening? He’d known this was the plan from the start, but to have it finally come to fruition surprised him and he didn’t know why. He was going to go to the country across the seas. He was going to the Aylin Islands.

  Galvin stood on the pier, his hands behind his back, as the ship set sail into the horizon. He got a bit nervous when the men swarmed the ship inspecting everything that was leaving with them, but Morwin was able to leave safely. He hoped for safe passage to his younger brother.

  Stolen content warning: this tale belongs on Royal Road. Report any occurrences elsewhere.

  Earlier, he had heard a bulky man speak to Morwin about how there were others that hoped for Justicar’s success. And throughout the interaction with Captain Mikael, he’d kept a close eye on the man to see where he went. He couldn’t risk anything. If this man knew about their operations, then he had to join Justicar. There was no other choice.

  In fact, there were others that would have to join. Others throughout the whole country who believed in their fight. He needed to recruit as many people as he could.

  All of the opal essences in him had been used up by the illusion of the old man. He did feel bad about having to strike Jovin City again after not long after, but if that’s what he needed to do, then so be it. The farther the city was from Rathalin, the more of a chance he could sway them to join Justicar.

  He knew he walked the streets as his old self now. It didn’t matter. It didn’t matter that the guards spotted him and rushed to his side immediately. He was confident he would be able to escape from this conundrum. It didn’t matter that Lord Seldam knew he was here, or Lord De’Shai, or the damn king himself. None of that matters. Because he had work to do.