Tír na Mairnéalach (The Land of Sailors)

The next morning I woke up early and packed up for leaving. Cozbi hadn't told me the exact amount of days I'd have to stay there. I packed for two weeks still. I bent down to look into the bag Marcus had given me. I hadn't examined it closely yet. Running out of time, I picked out a lavender coloured bottle of perfume. It smelled like the exquisite roses in the palace gardens. I packed it with me to remember the smell when I'm gone.

I walked out the door and stumbled upon Marcus. He looked panicked but when he saw me, he tended to ease his expression. "Are you leaving?" He asked.

"Hm."

"Take this with you. You don't know the trouble you might get in. Remember that road side robbery? That land is ten times worse." Marcus handed me a heavy weapon wrapped in light blue silk.

I thanked him and left. I sat in the caravan and the journey started. I didn't realize I had dozed off and when I woke up it was near sunset. We stopped for food or toilet breaks and were off again. After some time I saw the sign appear. It read 𝘛í𝘳 𝘯𝘢 𝘔𝘢𝘪𝘳𝘯é𝘢𝘭𝘢𝘤𝘩. The land looked isolated. A shiver went through me. Leaving the busy golden streets of the palace and coming here was quite a change. I remembered about the weapon Marcus had given me. I held the soft fabric in my hand and let it slide off. My heart skipped a beat. It was the same dagger Tynan had given me.

Tynan had made this himself. For me. The design was the exact same. Was this the pattern of all the royal daggers?

As I sat there bewildered, the caravan halted to a stop. "We're here miss." Said the driver in ancient Irish. I got down and unloaded my two bags, one of which now contained the mystery dagger.

The streets were dark and the off white and pale buildings didn't help make the surroundings any less eerie. The main building of the palace was taller than any buildings I had seen. The rest of the palace spread widely on the ground. There were hardly any lights turned on. Goosebumps rose on my arms as I realized the caravan had left. I hurried in front of the palace door and knocked impatiently. An old lady with grey hair and a sickening body posture opened the door. The inside looked more ravishing than ever. Now, it looked like a luxurious palace. Way too luxurious, I thought as I walked in. No wonder the rest of the land seemed poor.

Cozbi met me in a huge living room, smiling brightly, introducing me to her cousins. They all were just as beautiful as Cozbi, with green eyes and perfect physiques.

"This is Asra, my very close helper," Cozbi nodded towards me.

I returned back the smiles and was lead backwards towards my room. When I went inside, I found two beds. The room followed a deep red theme. A small lamp dimly lit the room with pale light. One of the beds seemed to be in use, with crinkled bedsheet and a diary on it. I set my bags on the side of the unused bed and took hold of the diary. I opened the first page and saw a name written in a dirty scrawl. Zoya.

Just then, the door opened with great force and I jumped, turning around to see the most enthralling girl standing in the doorframe, with an unpleasant expression on her face. She had glossy black curls with skin and lips so smooth, she looked like a painting. An unnerving aspect was that she looked angry.

"Did no one teach you to behave and not look into others' belongings?" She said, her voice high pitched.

"I just wanted to know your name," I said putting the diary down.

Zoya flew towards me and pinned me down, "You better behave yourself while you're here. I absolutely despise sharing my room with someone. And even more, an ugly, clumsy girl." She shoved me and put her diary away.

I almost had the urge to take out my dagger and dig it into her pretty back. But I said nothing, for the sake of Cozbi, or maybe just because I was intimidated. I just had to find Tynan soon and make sure we go back as soon as we could.

Without eating anything, I went straight to bed. The long journey had left me drained. The moment I opened my eyes, my heart flew to my mouth. My voice caught in my throat, I saw several pairs of eyes staring down at me in the complete dark. I could make out nothing else. Suddenly a light flared on my left. I caught Zoya smirking with a lighter in her hand, bringing it close to my blanket. I finally shrieked and ran out the room, pushing past whoever was there. Just a few steps outside and I bumped into someone. It was the tallest and buffest guy I had ever seen. He held the same mischievous smirk like the others and a white box in his hands. I backed off. Just then I felt the others emerge from my room. It was four of them, five including the guy behind me. Zoya and the two other girls stood with an arrogant tilt to their heads while the two guys observed me keenly, happy to see my fright. Zoya flashed her teeth at me, playing with the lighter in her hand. I began to escape, running frantically, yelling for some help. I had no idea what these spoiled psychos had in mind for me. The palace was gloomy and dawn was nowhere near. I felt like I was running into more and more abandoned places. At last I was outside, into an old garage looking place. It was an end to my escape. All five of them followed me with great enthusiasm, not nearly as breathless as I was. My first instinct was to call for Cozbi, then Tynan. At the mention of his name I saw Zoya's face twitch. They cornered me while laughing and mocking me. The tall guy pulled out a small cake with two candles on it from the box. Zoya lit them and the guy held the cake towards me.

"This is how we welcome people, here, take this," He grabbed a fistful and threw it at me. "Bet you've never had anything like this."

They all spat at the cake and threw more at me. I put my hands in front of me for defense. I fell back into an old non-functioning van and crawled back to save my self. The guy threw the remaining piece of the cake towards me but it missed. I hit my foot on the door and it slid shut. They all cheered as one of the girls slid out her belt and locked the van door securely with it.

𝘖𝘩 𝘯𝘰, this wasn't what I wanted. As I panicked and begged them to open the door, the candles on the cake came in contact with my coat and caught fire. I saw alarm flash their faces as they realized what had happened. I frantically began stepping on the fire as it grew.

"The lock's broken," said one of the guys. I looked at them with my tear stained face and to my surprise, they began backing off.

"Hey! Stop. Help me!" I cried.

I took my coat off and tried to throw whatever junk was inside the van on it. My skin seemed to itch and scream. I took off my shirt and threw myself forward in despair need to open the door. I felt the van shake and the ignited coat flew forward and I let out a yowl as it came in contact with my leg. I coughed and struggled. Somehow no one heard me. My vision was blurred as the temperature grew and the last I saw was smoke.