Chapter Name: The Voyage Begins
The sails were finished; now all the needed to be done was to gather supplies. Difficult work it was, for most of what the village had was taken or burned. It didn't help that only Hex or James did any work. Roger had been plotting for the last fort-night how he would kill his enemies, and though he had never said as much, the others knew. Slowly, the once active boy, who was soon to be a man, lapsed into brooding, spending more of his time on dark thoughts than in the world around him, and in the tasks of the present.
"I don't like it." Hex sighed, and paused in his search for food. James had told him this every few days for the last two weeks.
Turning on the younger boy, Hex replied, "I don't like it any more than you do, but if it saves our necks at some point, I won't complain."
"But if feels... evil." In fact, neither boy believed the weapon itself was evil, but rather the purpose for which it was forged, the purpose that it would fulfill. Perhaps it
would help them have their retribution, but both had seen what dwelling on it had done to Roger, and neither wished to follow him that way. Often, though he kept his thoughts secret, Hex half-though that their companion had fallen into madness.
I just hope he comes to, once each and every one of those slimy rats has had his due. Meanwhile, darker thoughts were going on in Roger's mind.
He was supposed to be looking for any good food that might have been left, but he found himself captivated by the weapon which he himself had created. He silently spoke to it, half-pleeing, half-praying.
"We'll find them, that is certain." Stroking it along its main body, he continued,
"And when we have, you'll have your blood.
That I promise you. Your thirst will
be quenched." A raven stood near him, pecking in the sand for clams. Why he did what he did next was never clear to him afterward. In a flash, he raised his new weapon... and shot it.
The next morning, the three woke up bright and early, before the dawn, when the sky was still grey and bleak. They slid onto the large raft that would be their vessel, and soon the land behind them was fleeing into the distance. As the sun rose, it penetrated the mists that shrouded the broad shoulders of the mountains there, casting them in a golden light. In the distance, the horizon stretched on and on, dotted by small islets. They were on their way. It was strange. None of them had ever known another home. As the last of the island's mighty peaks faded into the distance, Roger muttered to himself - his thoughts echoed by his fellows - "Farewell, Raven's Cove."
Sorry that this was so short. It was a transitional chapter. I'll be sure to make more later.