Daxson’s Thoughts – Epilogue
“You are here… I… wanted you to stay.”
“You didn’t really think I would did you?”
“I just wanted you safe. We all could have died. The hags… they sent entire crews to their graves…”
“I came for you.”
“I do not know what would have happened if you had not.”
Much else from that day is a blur. I remember little from what the Maiden told us of her sisters and their evil. They were gone and the fighting was finished. All that mattered to me was this woman who held me in her arms and took me home.
The quiet and stillness that fell over the sea when the final hag had fallen was almost more deafening than the storm before it. Rescue and repair operations were underway but the fighting had ceased. Even with all the activity, a hush had fallen over our men as they stood in the wake of devastation caused by the would-be destroyers of this world.
We returned to Azy Cay but stayed only for a short while. The number of power struggles and political machinations that cropped up in the wake of the Hags defeat were too many to count. Many leaders sought the favor or influence from our crew to aid in their schemes but that sort of life had no interest for me. All of the crew had interests and pursuits that took us in different directions. With so many seeking out our ship with all kinds of intentions, we decided it was best to hide the Liberator’s Wrath for another time. We selected the ruin of Tressa the Red’s tower as the best spot. It is out of the way, secluded, and Father Rod and Kaliferous were able to reconstruct many of the protections that would ward off any pillagers. We left Carnifex there to watch over the ship and mourn his lost master in his own way.
It seemed that money would be of no concern for us going forward. The crew was showered with gifts and favor in Baltimus, Jomba Town, Caresia, and even Brigandy Bay. Not since our earliest days as a crew had we been driven by a need or want for riches, but it was more than deserved that the men who crewed the Wrath be rewarded for their dependable bravery far above what I could ever have given them. Of the relics left in our possession, Father Rodrigo was entrusted with King Amemnus’ sword and Kaliferous kept Edward Lowe’s staff to aid in his studies of the Kraken history with the Elementals. It was decided that we should split up the three golden triangles of Rufus Redbeard. Likely he is still out there roaming Caribdus in search of them, and it seemed far too dangerous to keep them together. We each took one for safe keeping when we went our separate ways.
Annie and I reunited with Gop in Baltimus and made our way to the new hunting grounds that had been created by the Elementals. Throughout the years Gop had amassed an extensive network of contacts both Doreen and other that had allowed to do a modest business. Those same contacts along with my reputation (deserved or not) as captain of the Liberator’s Wrath proved to be invaluable as we worked to restore the Doreen homelands and re-establish our culture as a people. It was not until my family was forced to flee our village when I was a child that I had ever had an interaction with a member from another race of Caribdan much less a human from Earth. The Doreen were a subdued and much secluded people. This time around our homeland looks to be a much more open and accepting place to all races (except the Kehana). Annie and I knew that we would never have children of our own but saw the people that had come there to make new homes and new lives as our own family much like my parents watched over my childhood village.
Through what blessing I do not know, whether it was the Elementals or the reproductive research that Kal has been conducting, we have been blessed beyond measure. There could be no other name for our first son than Liam. I miss my friend greatly. The memory of his sacrifice for this world lives on in that boy, who I have no doubt will grow into a great leader of men. We named our second son Cai. He is a quiet boy but there is much depth to his soul. He is the best little brother anyone could ever wish for. And finally we were blessed with a daughter to which I was completely unprepared for. The fairest skinned Doreen anyone shall ever see with brightest shock of long red curls like her mother. There is no end to the trouble that little Crowlyn gets into but she has brought our family unending joy.
As they grew I would often think of my parents and it saddened me that my children would never know them. I worked hard to instill in them the lessons and stories of the Doreen that had been passed down to me. Much of my own life I considered to be a lesson in what not to do and shared sparingly as I do not consider myself much of a storyteller. Fortunately my children had an Abuela and a Father Rodrigo, whom they visited often, to fill their heads with fantastic tales of adventure and, more often, misadventure. Of course any story involving their namesakes were always a favorite, though I’m not sure who loved them more, the children or me. Sometimes those were the stories I would rather my children not hear, instead of getting every last detail from Father Rod. In truth I missed my lost companions greatly, thought of them often, and wished they could have seen the world they helped secure.
I have never been much for acquiring possessions but among my greatest treasures were three reminders of my fallen friends. A bottle of scotch gifted to me by a captain in Brigandy Bay who was proud, just as I was, to say that he had once sailed with the great Liam McCormick. Annie and I had shared a few drinks from that bottle in his memory but I had kept a close eye on the level since as I knew that liquid led to many a misadventure. The spyglass that Crow had used everyday in the nest on the Wrath. Every time I see it I think about the next mess of trouble that kid was spotting through it, but if he hadn’t started that bar fight in Brig, I never would have met Annie. She doesn’t let me forget that, and neither do the children. And lastly a big, black, wide-brimmed hat. The strangest hat I ever saw worn by the strangest man I ever met… and one of the best. Every time I sail, every time I have a drink with friends, every time I need a buddy watching my back, I miss that man. The hat gets worn a lot around our home. When the children were younger, more than a few scuffles broke out over who got to wear Mordecai’s hat.
My children knew there was only one rule regarding the relics leftover from my time with the crew of the Liberator’s Wrath. Do not ever, ever, ever touch the golden triangle.
Not ever.
And so one day that is exactly what they did…
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