It was a slightly chilly morning, as "Outriding Medaran" approached the island, most of the crew gathered in the stem of the ship to catch the first glimpse of what to Aethans was known as Yen Taell. 'They had arrived'; Yankris glanced over the view in front of them.
Entilla Hin was contrasted in front of the larger island with high mountains behind it. The smaller island and the coastline of the larger one held some resemblance to what they were used to in the Paleyans but the mountains seen in the distance were higher than anything they had ever seen before, apart from the few crewmembers that had been here before of course. Besides his former slave Lafatiya, who now meant so much to him, there were two of those aboard and they had been telling more than a few stories about the place along the way. Mostly these stories concerned all the strange and mysterious people that inhabited Aryiure and the vast differences in geography on the small island, the harsh desert, the swamps, the high mountains. Particularly a lot of warnings had gone out about the people of the swamp, or the Drulons as they were called; apparently they weren't very friendly and vary of other cultures and in addition quick to settle threats with violence.
Yankris put more faith in what Lafatiya told him than the other two, but if their tales of Aryiure were true it certainly seemed to be a place like no other and the route there had not been easy either. These passages around dangerous cliffs with strong currents and smaller whirlpools, they had been sailing for a week must be what had isolated this island for so long. Luckily Medana's vessels had sailed these waters before and had them charted out in detail, without those it had not been a pleasant journey.
"Get back to your posts!" shouted Tretend Belsek, who was the Captain of the ship and everyone started to go back to their duties. Yankris job was already done, as it had been to read the sea charts and make sure they were on the right course, so limping on his bad foot he approached the Captain, who still stood by the railing looking out cautiously.
"Capt'n Belsek…" he began.
"Aye?" the Captain answered him without turning around.
"We haven't really discussed the arrangements that will take place after we land," Yankris paused slightly while limping forth beside the Captain looking out over the railing towards the island. The naturally formed bay at the northern side of it could now clearly be seen and a few of its buildings were beginning to show, in particular the height of the haphazardly built Deldrim distinguished itself.
Before continuing, Yankris glanced back at the two other carracks of Sningehan model following them, "Like… which of them will are ye taking with ye back to the Paleyans?"
The Captain shrugged, "I guess it's not decided yet. Any preference on which of them we leave?"
Yankris polished the railing with one of his hands, "Well… I guess we both would like to sail with what we've gotten ourselves used to. I'd prefer having the Outriding Medaran in Yen Taell, aye… but you and the rest of the mates going back will have the most dangerous journey ahead of you and if I'm not mistaken you'll be skip for that little trip…"
"That is likely, aye…" said the Captain while releasing a leather-folded spyglass from his belt.
He brought the glass to his eye and then continued, "We're likely to take the ship with least damage though. Have them all quickly inspected, apply repairs to the one in best condition and then be off."
Yankris nodded slightly. "I'll stay on Entilla until you leave and then begin my work for setting up the route."
"Sounds good… not having regrets about this do ye?" said the Captain.
Yankris thought about that for a while. He had to admit that he felt a bit nervous. Very few of the crew aboard "Outriding Medaran" said they would stay and it was unlikely that Medana would send more ships this way for at least half a year. Trying to set up the ferry-route to Sakril and dealing with the Sakoians would not be easy, but he hoped that his relationship to Lafatiya would help him and that he would find happiness in uniting her with her family. He couldn't really have second thoughts.
Yankris shrugged. "No, my future lies here, I'm just a bit nervous of what's to come. From what I heard things aren't exactly organised over in Entilla. With all the rag-tag folk around, the ships could be stolen from us, especially after you leave; perhaps we'd even loose our lives over them? And how easy is dealing with the Sakoians going to be? And if the route to Sakril won't be profitable, what would the reaction of the recruited crew be? A lot on my mind… that's all."
"I'm sure you'll be fine." The Captain grinned slightly and continued, "From what I've heard you've survived worse circumstances."
Yankris chuckled. "Ye've heard right then… whatever this will bring it can't be worse than my visit to Grinorea Hin was…"
The Captain nodded while lowering his spy-glass and then proceeded to turn around shouting orders and the vessel started to turn portside in towards the island. Yankris basically stood there by the railing watching as they came closer and closer, soon buildings and even people could be distinguished and as they entered into the naturally formed bay he felt how a hand rubbed his shoulder and looked to his side.
"Morning Lafatiya?" he asked as he saw her standing there. "How does it feel to soon be home?"
She smiled at him timidly. "It's… hard to believe… and this doesn't look like it."
Yankris looked around the town of Entilla. A crowd of sailor-like looking Aethans had gathered around the bay, or were standing in doorways looking at them as the ship came in. He wondered what they were thinking, 'Would they be welcome here?, Could this truly become his new home?'.
"Aye, looks more like Grinorea Hin, doesn't it?... You'll have to be patient… it'll still be a few days before we can sail to the desert." Yankris said while he listened to the sails start to fold and an anchor drop into the water.
He smiled slightly at Lafatiya and then got closer to her, eventually grabbing her and picking her up in his arms.
She laughed, "What are you doing?"
Yankris just continued smiling and walked towards the mid-deck where someone was about to place the gangplank upon the dock. The man had just finished as Yankris arrived there and gave the man a look as if asking if it was ok, to walk over.
When the man nodded, Yankris looked down at Lafatiya, "Come on, let's find out what this place is like!"
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