The Maiden Voyage of the Dreamchaser

By Al C Myst

   Avast! It's time to set sail! Come aboard mates, and join the good Captain Anselm as he ventures forth into the heart of the Spice Archipelago to find the ancient Ring of the Prophet! Go quickly now, join Anselm and his two guests, the young lovers Jacqulyn and Rafael as they search!

   Join them as they fi

• Language: English
• Publisher: Mikal Graves
• Release date: Jun 1, 2022
• ISBN: 9781088013595

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The Maiden Voyage of the Dreamchaser

Table of Contents:

Author’s Note

The story you are about to read is considered a side story. It runs over the course of three days in alignment with that of another story, told from a different point in time and space.

This world is one of gods and monsters, of demons and devils. Where every myth, every legend, and every fable is true. Heroes still live and roam the earth, the gods still maintain their domains and squabble about small issues.

We go now to this side story, a story that may or may not have an effect on the major narrative of the whole series in which it lies. Still, we can only hope that this tale is considered at least an interesting anecdote in this world where anything can happen and everything is real.

And if at any point you should find yourself lost in the names of forgotten gods, or the introduction of monsters from ancient times, we offer these words of advice.

Just go with it.

Chapter 1: Drop Off

A ship sails across the horizon as the sun begins to rise in the sky. The waves are calm this morning, and a chill comes through the northern wind. It’s late-October, and several ships are in these parts, yet none are quite as strange as this one.

It passed a lone cargo ship the other day, the cargo ship was massive, seemingly stretching a mile across, and scraping the sky with its containers, each of which could probably pack away this ship. Its wash was enough for the tiny ship to need to gain some distance so it wouldn’t capsize, yet the captain of the small ship paid no mind and did not turn. Miraculously, his ship survived.

Now it’s passing by a fishing vessel, and while not getting too close, the wolves aboard are baffled by what they’re seeing. From a distance, it looks to be made of wood, dull orange in color with red trim. It has to be old too, they consider, for most boats now are made of metal and glass, and use motors to travel, yet this ship still has a sail! The fishing crew snicker and laugh to themselves about it.

Perhaps some old rich guy wanted a replica of Queen Anne’s Revenge, one jokes.

Darn shame he let his grandson design it! another laughs, Lookit! It’s only got one sail, and it can’t be much bigger than us!

Think it’s got a motor in it? Out here, a single sail wouldn’t get them very far very fast.

I mean, it has to, right? Nobody would be THAT stupid. He looks again at the ship. Ey looks, it’s even got a Jolly Rodger! The wolf points with his thumb up at the mainsail. Looks like that was designed by the kiddies too! The heck’s that skull supposed to be?

Indeed, the skull and cross bone plastered across the black sail, while perhaps fitting, was unlike any normal skull expected on such a ship. The skull is pointed, and a fin protrudes from the top, the best it can be described is as if a shark could have a skull.

The wolves laugh and return to their work as the ship approaches them, they keep an eye on it of course, just so it doesn’t collide with them, but they figure it can’t be much of a threat, and these boys have been in a few scraps before, they’re ready for whatever a tiny ship like that could do.

As it approaches, the first thing they notice is the silence. There’s no sound of a motor, and at the range they’re at, they should at least hear something. Truly, there are no sounds or movements of the crew, nobody seems to be on deck at all. That fear is confirmed as it gets closer to passing, and they pause to look again. Indeed, no one is on the deck.

While it’s not on a course to hit their ship, they decide to pack up the gear and get ready to get out of the way in case it gets too close for comfort. Bafflingly, despite its small size, it’s fast. It has to be going about 30 knots despite the lack of an obvious motor, meaning it could quickly outpace the fishing ship.

Much to the relief of the crew, it passes them by without contact, yet nobody says anything, nobody takes their eyes off of it, practically nobody breathes.  There’s nobody at the wheel.

It keeps sailing, leaving the fishing boat behind. Down below the deck, there are several rooms. They are, for the most part, what one might expect on such a ship. In the absolute bottom is a large amount of storage space, though part of it is filled with racks of bottles of rum, there’s also some spare rope, but aside from that, not many other supplies.

On the floor above, there are three small rooms one might consider bedrooms if all that is required of a bedroom is a twin-sized bed, a small desk, and enough room to open the door. There’s a larger bedroom on the top floor in the aft cabin, complete with a queen-sized bed, a large desk, and a collection of odd and antique trinkets that give the ship a false sense of age.

Maps, a globe, swords, and old-school flintlock pistols, decorate the shelves and bookcases alongside the stacks of books and tomes of lore. Near the rear window, there’s a large desk covered in strange and arcane symbols and sigils, a cauldron resting on top. Candles and lanterns are scattered about the room, ready to come alight when night falls again.

Nowhere below deck was anyone to be found. But up above, at the very top of the ship, in the crow’s nest, two small figures sit together. The entirety of the crew sits up in this wooden basket, everyone who controls the ship.

And his one passenger.

Now this captain was no ordinary animal. Sleek gray and white fur ran up his head and down the length of his long tail. Strong, muscular arms and legs, and a big toothy grin plastered across his muzzle. He wears a black vest with orange trim, blue shorts, and a black tricorn hat, complemented by his useless eyepatch he regularly shifts between eyes. But none of this would cause people’s heads to turn, and make them stare should they pass him on the street. No, that would be the fin on the back of his head, and the end of his tail.

The captain is a shark.

He sits in the crow nest across from his passenger, a hooded green rabbit, whose nose is buried deep in a book, waiting for the bunny to finish.

The emotional spectrum of magic has an interesting effect with water, he continues. Water magic relies on patience, much as the sea will always wait and remain behind, a true water mage must always remember to remain calm. Though the surface of the sea may rage, and the storms may roar, below the surface, everything remains calm. He closes the book and sets it aside.

Well, thank you for your patience, Anselm. he laughs. Sorry to make you wait, it’s just I wanted to finish that one before we reach Eagleland. The shark just waves him off, as if to indicate that everything is fine. Truth be told most conversations went this way with Anselm, like an endless game of charades. It’s a mixture of wild gestures and over-the-top reactions. If there’s one thing Anselm is terrible at, it’s subtlety. So what did you want?

His eyes narrow as he stands up and takes a step forward. He grabs at his knuckles as if to crack them, yet no sound is made. He picks up the passenger by his shirt and holds him up. A-Anselm?! What’s gotten into you?! Before the rabbit can say anything else, Anselm tosses him out of the crow’s nest and down to the deck below before jumping down himself.

They both land with good solid thuds, Anselm landing a bit more gracefully, yet neither of them is hurt. Moving quickly Anselm grabs his training cutlass, a hard plastic toy in the shape of a normal sword, and holds it above his head, pointing at the rabbit.

Uhg, a fight? He says as he stands and brushes himself off. Anselm’s nod all the confirmation he needs. Of all the things, why do you want to fight?

Anselm doesn’t hesitate, he just runs over, sword held high, he swings it down hard, only for it to hit a shield of light conjured out of nothing by the hooded rabbit. He doesn’t break stride however as he uses his tail to sweep the green bunny’s legs and knocks him over. Anselm grabs him by the ears and drags him along.

Ow, ow! The ears! These things are sensitive, you know! Anselm shoots him a knowing glance, and he just crosses his arms. Yeah I know, I thought you might fall for that, he pouts as Anselm takes him into the cabin and points him at the map. It’s old but highly detailed, the text on it seems to dance and shift slightly as they watch and read.

Your map of the world? What about it? he asks before getting directed to look at their destination, Eagleland. Okay. I see Eagleland, and? Anselm points a bit to the northwest of it, in the open sea, there’s a tiny image of a boat there that seems to be moving closer to the island every second. And there’s us. Anselm, I enchanted this map, I know how it works. Sure enough down in the bottom left corner, there’s a signature. Enchanted by Rasputin.

Anselm rolls his eyes and points south of Eagleland, there’s a large archipelago there, dozens of islands, none of them quite as big as Eagleland, though the largest does come close, the name listed next to it is Spice Islands. And moving about the waters between the islands and the southernmost tip of Eagleland a drawing of a sea monster is moving about.

Its appearance is unsettling, much like Anselm, at first glance one would assume it to be a shark, but unlike Anselm, this one is trailed by tentacles, further still, the beast appeared larger than the ship on the map, and while not drawn to scale, the fact that it appeared so huge did cause for some concern.

Huh, so a sea monster... um, let’s try to avoid contact? Rasputin tries to laugh it off. Anselm just shakes his head and hands him a book he had finished just two days ago. Legendary Creatures and How to Fight Them.  He opens it up to a page, the beginning of the chapter on creatures in Eagleland.

It takes Raz a minute or two to understand, but he catches on quickly. Ah. You’re worried about me. You think I won’t be able to handle myself in case I get in a battle with one of these guys right? To which he gets an affirmative nod. He sighs, which is about as impressive as talking in general for a creature born without lungs. Anselm, I’m not gonna get into a fight. It’s not like I’m announcing to everyone, ‘Here I am! The court wizard of Morpheus!’ I’m just traveling from city to city and enjoying the sights and learning all I can.

Anselm is unsatisfied by this and holds his plastic sword up to the bunny’s face, and without saying a word makes his intention clear. Fight me, or I’m sending you home.  Fed up with this request interrupting his study time, Raz finally agrees to fight him out on the main deck. Alright already, let’s just get this over with.

Notably, he doesn’t arm himself, even though Anselm knows Raz has a weapon, a staff that’s supposed to amplify his power, does he not see Anselm as a challenge? He scoffs at this blatant insult and rushes the bunny, sword held high. Before he can make contact, however, he once again hits Raz’s shield and goes to sweep the legs, only for Raz to jump and stomp down on the shark’s head.

Not falling for it again! He says before hopping off and returning the action by launching a disk of light at Anselm’s legs, knocking him down. Come on Anselm, we don’t have to fight.

He just grins as he jumps back up, launching another attack. This time instead of going straight on, he circles to the left to try a rear barrage. Each strike seems to cause cracks to form in the light shield, and cause Raz to wince. Anselm raises his sword for a final blow to break through the shield, but as he swings down, Raz drops the shield and dodges. No more of that! He says, raising it around Anselm’s blade, sticking it in place.

He fights with the sword, trying to pull it free, but it’s no good, the shield has it stuck in the air. Not so tough without your sword. Raz laughs before jumping up and kicking Anselm in the face, knocking him back.

See? I can handle myself.  He says looking down at his collapsed friend. C’mon, I’m not even going anywhere outside of the big cities. There will be plenty of people around, I’ll be fine.

It is at this moment that Anselm leaps up and tackles Raz down, pinning him beneath his paws. They tumble across the deck for a moment or two before Anselm finally pins Raz down beneath him. They stare into each other’s eyes. Anselm is smiling his trademark grin and Raz is pouting in return. No fair! he complains, but Anselm just pantomimes laughter in his face.

Just looking in his eyes, Raz knew all that he needed to hear from Anselm. Gotcha again. You may be strong, but I’m still stronger. He looks away, unable to meet his gaze anymore. Don’t make me go back yet. I can’t just let this journey end before it even starts. I’ll be fine, I promise. It’s only one month, and we’ll meet up again on the west coast. If there’s any trouble, the Prince can let you know.

Anselm just shakes his head and gets up before helping Raz up as well. I know you’re worried, but I’ll be fine. You’ll be fine too! You can just sail around the north coast if you don’t want to go near that... thing. He looks towards the cabin, something about that monster, perhaps it was the tentacles, but something about it just made him unsettled.

Anselm snaps him out of his stare, patting his shoulder before handing him the creature book, his intentions clear, Study up. You’ll be leaving this behind.  Raz accepts the book and returns to reading, taking a new seat at the base of the mast. Satisfied, Anselm heads down below deck.

Down he goes, all the way to the cellar at the bottom. Raz doesn’t like this room too much, as the smell is repulsive and overpowering. Anselm however finds it as one of his favorite rooms and proceeds to the nearest shelf to grab a bottle. He pops the cork out and begins to guzzle down his foul-smelling booze.

Soon enough, the ship reaches its goal. Eagleland is just off the starboard bow. Raz gets up and marvels at it from the deck while Anselm takes the wheel to bring them to the dock. The friends say goodbye. It’s short, but not sad. They know they’ll be together again soon, and had known this day was coming. Content with their goodbye, Anselm quickly sets out of the port again.

He has a keen choice to make now. Should he take the northern path, which is safer, or the southern path? He laughs, the choice having been made long ago already and he turns the boat right and down the coast. That monster may have been frightening to Raz, but Anselm? To him, it was exciting. Raz was a good kid, but he never fully understood Anselm. If there was one thing he enjoyed more than his rum, it was getting in a good fight.

As the ship sailed south, he kept his eyes on the coast, suffice to say it was beautiful. Tall spires that shine like jewels and climb higher in the sky than even the tallest tower of the king’s castle back home. Beaches packed with people of all kinds