Horizon's Way

## Episode I: Dawn

The grilled salmon was thick, juicy, and delectable. As I forked the lightly salted fish into my mouth in chunky bits, some became stuck in my throat and I realized I may have been eating too fast. I took a swig of the restaurant’s proprietary orangarrot juice and pushed it all down. For the first two decades of my life, I ate and drank near-garbage. The next decade, I dined like a king. In North Kilran, I went back to feasting on bread and water. I never learned how to eat properly, I guess. Reminiscing, I almost made myself chuckle.

At the opposite side of the table sat a sturdy and perhaps overly tall child, staring longingly at the docks outside the establishment and the merchant boats as they rocked on the waves. That boy – my first grandchild – had a love of the sea and his creatures since he could think. In his six years of life, I think he loved our fishing trips and boat races more than I did. Lately, he’s been wanting to go on a merchant trip. I think I could use what’s left of my political clout to pull some strings for his birthday.

I didn’t always like ships or the waves. A small and ever-tortured part of me feels the rocking of a boat and conjures the feelings of a ball and chain around both my ankles. I’ve mostly overridden it with familial joy and wonder, but part of me can not escape the past, no matter how fast I run – or was known for running. I am content that I am among the last of my people to carry this phantom memory, and that we’ll be taking it to an honorable grave with us.

From the kitchen of this fine seaside restaurant emerged its founder and manager, a brown ecru-haired man who had long ago far surpassed me in height. “Uncle Zane!” squealed the boy. His maritime trance was broken as my son took seat beside him. It was a bright morning when he came into this world near Sovinosk in a land far away. He carries on a tendency to make others’ days bright, no doubt inherited from myself. Ever a fan of numbers and money, he founded a diverse dining chain in Agadir soon after graduating from the Oceanic Academy. I’ve heard it’s even spread to Occa now. Most of what I remember of that continent centers around destroyed cities and angry gods.

Zane pinched the boy’s cheek and ruffled his hair. “You been good to mama, Ekon?” he asked. Ekon was a name I could never forget. Before it belonged to my first grandchild, it was the name of the monk in northern Kilran who scared the shit out of me a few times. Taught me how to fight well. My daughter, the history and geopolitics (and a bunch of other stuff) scholar, named him after that crazy brave monk, Notch bless his soul.

“Yeah! We’re waiting for her right now! We’re going to Herobrine’s Haunted Hills in Isla Espada this weekend!” he responded joyfully. “Herobrine… you know he chopped my head off once, right?” I joked. “No, that was Markozoowee!” He corrected me. He had been taught well.

“What about you, Dad? Why you leavin’ the continent?” asked Zane. Truthfully, I didn’t have the answer. Or maybe I didn’t accept that I did. I was returning to Aphelion for closure on a story that had been open for decades too long. “Meeting some old friends. You know I’m popular.” I answered. I wasn’t completely lying.

I picked up my fork and stabbed into a particularly thick salmon chunk when Chalise walked into the restaurant, followed closely by her mighty fine mother Nailah. The Jelani family was united. “Look, it’s whiz girl! Can you publish my biography in the Repository yet? I’ve got a face for fame!” jested Zane. “Maybe you can write about that time me, my three friends, and a god killed a giant lizard in some plains in Kilran or something. I’ll take the royalties…” I continued.

“Very funny.” Answered my strict but intelligent daughter Chalise. “For your information, me and my team are working on quantifying development in Aquila and- what’s this?!” Chalise seemed excited as she reached into a shopping bag and pulled out some gold-plated binoculars. The letters “ACS” were printed prominently on the left barrel. I pulled some strings there too.

Cleaning my mouth after finishing my meal, I withdrew some teals as payment and tip. “Whoah, Ekon, you gonna find yourself a mermaid and run off with her now?!” I jested. He was ecstatic, and put his utensils down before standing next to his mother and inspecting them. “I think he ought to focus here at home. Lot of nice girls here to build a family with...” followed my wife, who took a seat beside me. “That there are.” I confirmed and I kissed her cheek.

“Dad, when we all get back together, you should read my new handbook. It’ll be great!” Chalise said, excited. “Or you can come back and read my menu!” joked Zane. “I’ll make sure to read you guys’ stuff, but remember it takes me a while. I never grasped the bigger words.” I said with a smile. “Well, we can sit and help out with… full bellies!” announced Zane as he pulled a bag of provisions from the seat behind him. “You guys enjoy your trip now! Ekon, tell Dad that the next time he comes out his study, he should visit Gran Aquila Grill! I’ll give him a discount.” Jested Zane before standing up and making his way to the kitchen again. Taking the bag, Chalise murmured, “Owner sucks, food’s great… four stars?” Before leaving the restaurant for the vivid Agadir streets, my daughter and grandson waved at my wife and I. I wished them well on their well-earned vacation.

Now alone with Nailah, I could sense her concern. “Do you really gotta leave for Dreiton, babe? I'm not used to having you gone.” She pouted. Although she once joined me in blowing shit up in northern Kilran (in the name of liberty, of course), you could never conclude that from her profound tendency for emotional expression. “You’ve heard of the fields of ghosts, right? It may be silly, but… I need to talk to some people. I love you, honey. I’ll be back in two days tops.” I said sincerely. “Well, you won’t be going without this.” She said as she removed her Seashell Charm and put it around my neck. “I’ll guard the home. That'll protect you.” She promised. She kissed me lovingly before standing up carefully and exiting the restaurant.

Being cared for is a pleasant feeling that I maintain is a privilege, one first endowed to me by the Freedmen’s Commune. When they found me and another girl, rest her soul, hypothermic and on the verge of starvation on the plains of northern Kilran, they took me in. They fed me, gave me shelter, and taught me literature, spirituality, and combat. Although I could start a slave riot with a redstone wire and a few granules of sugar, I was ill-prepared to be a decent Oceanic. Even when I got whooped by my own darkness in the Temple of Sky, they begged that I stay. I knew I had to leave to make them proud. When I returned twenty years later while raising hell in Kilran, I knew that I had.

When I left them, I made new friends. We cruised the world fighting monsters and then angry gods, and then we saved the world we traveled ten times over. At first, I was in it for the emeralds and the women. And those two I did receive, perhaps a little too much. But there came a point where I felt my heart beating with theirs as one, and I knew I had a greater calling. They helped me realize that. But in the moment I was most ready to show them, they were ripped from me. I still want to show them what I’ve done.

After a few pensive minutes, I stacked the dirty plates and cups and set the teals right beside them. I was ready.

I exited the restaurant and breathed in the lovely Agadir air. Only about five times did I come here in my childhood with my sister and father. Back then, it was a fishing and carpentry village, and one averse to the sea for fear of being sighted by sailing Polycrat bandits from the west. As I gazed at the many families making their way through the busy streets and at the sturdy men loading cargo onto the merchant boats, I knew things had changed. I was politically content, I guess.

Making my way to the outside restaurant table where he was sitting, I got my first good look at him. He was brown-haired and could be handsome if he replaced those awful work clothes. They were robes. I was bewildered as to why he wasn’t attracting more attention as he drank from a strange flask and read the Oceanic paper. I took a seat at the same table, facing him. “So we finally meet.” He said.

“I could say the same.” He kicked a black case over to me, which I knew contained the Geminis – my old knives. “You’ve got a lovely home, Mr. Jelani. And a lovely continent too. What say you?” he asked as he pushed the newspaper over to me.

“NOVA AQUILA THREATENS A QUOTA ON VOSHI GOODS!” read the flashy headline. I smirked. “They can do whatever the want. Sometimes I feel like they forget I had a part in helping them exist. But long gone are my days of fame seeking. I tell you, if they don’t want our trade, we’ll send it over to the Sultanate and the Commonwealth. One door closes, two open wider.” I explained. I had studied politics and economics during my time in the commune and discussed it at length during my exploits in Kilran. Voshe is destined to remain independent.

He seemed satisfied. “Oh, how much a half century can change you.” He remarked. He seemed around twenty years old, but I knew better than to ask. “How do I know I can trust you about the Fields?” I asked. I wanted to be entirely sure that I would see what – and who – I wanted to see in central Aphelion. “Mr. Jelani, I discovered them.” He responded authoritatively and reassuringly. I was satisfied this time.

“Then I see no reason to waste time.”

He finished drinking, crumpled the flask up like it was a sheet of paper, and threw it in the garbage can. Again, I wouldn’t let curiosity defeat me this time. I picked up the obsidian case and stood up behind him. I followed him to the high-end private docks of Agadir. When we arrived at dock 86, he opened the gate with his key and I saw an otherworldly object I could only describe as an egg-shaped marine pod with two seats and a sturdy glass overhead.

“We’ll be there in about three hours, Mr. Jelani. Would you like to be asleep?” he asked as we stepped into the pod. “No, thank you. I’d like to see the dolphins.” I responded, somewhat terrified of what... substance he’d administer me if I had agreed. We got into the seats and secured ourselves, and he brought the transparent reinforced overhead plate down as the engine started.

“By the way, did Ekon like the binoculars?”