A Machine Called Earth
Chapter 3- A New Friend

“Iremember when,

Life,was just me and God,

Underthe old oak tree,

Andthere was nowhere else,

ThatI’d rather be.

Butthings have changed now, can’t you see,

Thisisn’t the way things were meant to be.

Butwe can look back

Andsay,

WHATMEMORIES!”

This was asong which in the tedium of sailing down the Crystal River, Hector had resortedto singing. It was an old tune that he had known since he was a child, sung byhis mother. Singing was a great way to pass the time. When traveling down ariver, after a few days, everything begins to look the same, water in front of you,water behind, riverbanks to the sides.

After threedays, as Hector made his way down the river, he had reached a canyon withsteep, black cliffs on either side. It was a contrast from the beginning of hisjourney, where the landscape which hugged the river, was quite flat andlittered with pines and oaks. Sailing through the Tammerville Lake and crossingthe threshold into the river was quite easy, with wide expanses between theriver banks, though at this point down the river, it had narrowed quiteconsiderably. Which although made for some nerve-racking navigation, actuallycreated some interesting echoes as Hector sang.

Hectorthought for a moment that it must have been hard for the Trading ships to maketheir way through these waters, but then he remembered that they have beenusing airships for the last ten years. ‘Well they were more like glorified hotair balloons.’ Valimir used to say. Though his distaste was probably more dueto his fear of flying. For, traveling by air was quite dangerous, your vesselwas an open target for anyone with a gun or a strong enough throwing arm, whocould puncture the canopy. Down you go, all your possessions free for thetaking, as you’re ransacked, and probably killed. That is to say if the violenteasterly winds don’t throw you into a cliff or something, like some vengefuldeity, who has taken offense to you taking the sky. “It’s a fool’s errand toput yourself in unnecessary danger.’ Valimir would say especially on the topicof flying.

There wereseveral types of airships that sailed the skies. Trade Ships, Privately ownedships, and Pirate Ships. The Trade ships were rugged and sturdily built. Theyalso, always had an emblem painted on the sails and hull, showing they were indeedtrading ships. An unmarked ship that hadn’t received clearance to enter theairspace of a town could be shot down. The privately owned ships, they were strictlyin the possession of the wealthy. Usually covered in ornaments of theirtravels, and trinkets showing off their wealth. But they are rarely seen aroundTammerville. Or at least they are not recognized as they generally fly farhigher than the Trading Airships, usually above the clouds. They say that thesky is the ocean for the free. And last but certainly not least, the Pirateships. They are usually sailed by factions of the south and west of Arccon.There is a fourth type of airship, that of the Maplestone fleet, though theyare often mistaken for pirate ships. Due to sharing the black sails, as well asthe do-anything-for-the-right-price captains that commanded the vessel.

Hectordecided to continue singing,

“Whereis the hill on which we sit?

Idon’t think I can make it,

Tothe End.

Ican’t seem to take things back,

Tothe way they were before.

Butwe can LOOK BACK,

Andsay,

WHATMEMORIES!”

After a fewmore hours, of navigating the treacherously narrow waters, swerving between thejagged rocks, avoiding collision, Hector began to hear voices. They were comingfrom atop the canyon walls. They sounded like they were arguing. Hector letdown the sail which flapped about quite loudly, so he could hear better.However he couldn’t make out what they were saying, as they were quite far up,on the edge of the cliff above, and their voices, bounced and echoed off thecanyon walls. But he could make out at least two male voices, and a girlsvoice. Suddenly, he heard a gunshot, and a scream. At that moment a body fellfrom the cliff into the water.

Hectorwaited for the body to surface, and when it finally did emerge from the murkywater, he saw that it was the girl. Hector then dived in to get her, luckilythe waters were calm, which made it easy to get back on the boat with thesoaking, limp body. ‘Hopefully she isn’t dead.’ Hector thought.

There shelay on the deck of Hector’s home away from home, unconscious. Hector examinedher for injuries, and saw where the bullet had hit her, but it was only a fleshwound, nothing too serious, the bullet had just passed straight through theother side, mealy nicking the flesh of her lower shoulder. She had also managedto escape serious injury from the fall, narrowly missing the rocks, although, shedid have some minor abrasions, and her clothes were torn and tattered. Hector quicklyattended to her wounds, and began to examine her to see if she was going todie, or pull through, determining whether he should dump her back into the wateror not. However, in Hector’s eyes, she was a beautiful woman, far morebeautiful than any woman from Tammerville. He thought that perhaps she was anangel or some sort of princess, for although he was old enough that he might beconsidered a man, he still delighted in the fantasies of a child. He mainlythought this for two reasons, one: that she was quite beautiful, and two: Shelooked very different from anyone in Tammerville. For both her hair and clotheswere different from what he had seen in Tammerville. She wore a white,green-trimmed dress with green sleeves, and a striped outer-corset, and hadlong, dark, straight hair, free from any hair-tie or brimmed bonnet.

The town ofTammerville was born from what is now, the capital of Arccon, Syre. Which inthe first era, one thousand years ago, settled north of the land. They carriedtheir own ideologies, technologies, architecture and clothing, that wasdifferent from the rest of those who inhabit Arccon.

Themysterious woman finally came-to, coughing up her lungs, along with quite a lotof water. “Who are you?” Hector asked. She didn’t answer. She looked terrified,and her big blue eyes were wide with horror. “It’s ok, you’re safe now.” He consoled.She smiled, but still didn’t answer his question. For she was still catching herbreath, and clearing her throat from almost drowning.

Soon, whenshe began to calm down, Hector asked, “Who were those people? Why did theyshoot you?”

She lookedat him with wide eyes as she recounted the past day. She then clutched his armsaying, “They... they were monsters, their eyes, fangs... They were chasing me.They said it was my time.” She was still in, what Valimir would call, a‘compromising state.’ Still full of adrenaline, void of reason.

“Your timefor what?”

She paused,“I don’t know.”

Hector knewthat she was talking about creatures similar to what he had seen in theTammerville town hall. “The curse plaguing Tammerville must be spreading elsewhereas well.” Hector muttered to himself, as though making a mental note. “Butwhere did it originate, if anywhere?”

After sometime, when the strange girl had finally regained her composure, Hector asked,“Where are you from?”

She said, “Iam from the city of Maplestone.” Though Hector hadn’t heard of that namebefore, and he looked puzzled. She had caught on, and said, “You may know of itas Valelen. You’re from Syre aren't you?”

“Well, I amactually from Tammerville.” Hector corrected. “It is an off-shoot town fromSyre connected by rail. Though I must say, I haven’t been taught much of placesfar from Tammerville.”

She lookedat Hector angrily. “Typical. You lot only interested in yourselves. Can’t bringyourselves to teach about anything outside your boarders.” She continued. “Maplestonesits at the foot of Mt Alrin and the southern mountain range, on the northernplane, south of Tammerville past the Black Canyons, and the red forest.Anyways, there has been rumor that there is a city beyond the mountains, on theother side, further south than any map goes. They are believed to be the causeof the black clouds that you have no doubt seen. Unless you have great wallssurrounding your town, and haven’t seen them.”

Hector couldsense the hostility of her words. There was much conflict between the nativepeoples of Arccon, and the people of Syre, and its branched cities, likeTammerville. Generations of war and conflict over a thousand years, tend toplant hatred deep into the hearts of those affected. Even if the motives and sparksof war have been long forgotten.

“But how cana city thrive out there? I always thought there was nothing but desert overpast the mountains. A barren wasteland.”

“So did I.”She said, “But what else would create such black clouds?”

Soon eveningfell and Hector decided to anchor down the boat for the night. Once the sun hadfinally hidden behind the top of the cliff, not to be seen till the nextmorning, and darkness began to settle on the land, Hector turned on hislantern. That was after winding the generator about fifty times. They then satlistening to the gentle hum of the luminescent machine, and the tender rockingof the boat. It was a scene a little too romantic for two strangers.

But the girlthen asked, breaking what was almost an awkward moment, saying, “What are youdoing out here? It’s a dangerous time were living in to be out traveling alone.”

With a smileHector replied, “I guess could say the same about you.” But in a morethoughtful tone he said, “People began turning into beasts. Similar to what I guesswas chasing you, so the people of Tammerville singled me out, to go and investigate.”

“Why you?”She asked.

“Well I usedto be part of the Tammerville city guard. Known as the ‘Blackcoats.’ I am oneof the only people within the city, who is trained to shoot. A skill that is onthe brink of extinction in Tammerville. So anyway I’m Hector, and you are?”

“Hope.”

“Well, niceto meet you Hope.” Hector said. “We should probably get some rest, I intend onmaking it to River-ton, tomorrow. Feel free to make your way below deck, there’sa bed there. I’ll sleep up here.”

“Yes, ofcourse. But why is it that, Tammerville’s city guard is no more? I think itstrange.”

“Well sincethe great war, Tammerville was flooded with refugees from Syre. Now by allmeans, we need the city guard, to keep things civil. But things are stretchedthin you see. The government couldn’t afford to pay the city guard for theirservices, and had to disband it. Which to be honest, left us guards, with nothingto do. We weren't skilled in other crafts. I was considering starting up aprivate policing and investigating agency with some of the other former guards,but now all this has started happening. Perhaps when this is all over, I’llgive it a try.”

“Well goodluck with that. It is getting late though, I’d best get some rest.” As Hopemade her way across the deck, towards the hatch leading below, she turned backand with a smile she said. “Thanks again, for saving me. I know it was only byluck, that you rescued me, but I’m glad you were there.” With those words shewent below deck.

Hector’sadventure was only a couple days in, and he’d already made a new friend.

Life seems to be a repetitive game of chance. We are constantly beingput in seemingly random situations. The future is forever unknown. Life seemsto be but a reaction to situations we are put into. But do these almost randomevents have a higher purpose or reason? Only time will tell. I say these things,because of the day that has just passed. I could never have imagined the most beautifulgirl I have ever seen drop from the sky, into my life. However all is not well,it seems the ‘curse’ is bigger than I originally thought. These so called beasts,are not limited to Tammerville. Which dismissed the thought that this is somekind of infection. For Valelen has also seen the effects of this curse. A townvery far from Tammerville.