A boneless graveyard

Previously: After defeating a scheme to sell humans into slavery, Mira and her companions take shelter from a violent storm and discover that their refuge is a most unusual structure: a ship, turned upside-down and stuck in the middle of the forest, miles from any large water source...

Merrick and I walked around the ship again. I scratched my head, while he had his fingers buried in his beard. There was indeed no indication of how the ship had arrived at this peculiar destination--nor any signs of its crew. I could discern no markings that would identify its port of origin, either.

"Perhaps someone....built...it here," Tane suggested in his usual uneven speech.

I glared at him. "You're suggesting someone constructed a broken ship leagues away from any sailable waters."

He shrugged. "Even the most...skilled crafts...man must practice his...art somewhere. Here, none would be nearby to...mock him."

"Mocking such an endeavor, imagine that," I said under my breath.

"Do you suspect sorcery?" Merrick asked me.

"I don't know. That would require a power that hasn't been seen since the lost age, I would say. I know of no Maederum capable of such a feat and the tales of those who would have been are a bit suspect. You?"

"I agree. Although...pah, never mind." He took a step back and further appraised the ship. "It is a sleek vessel, designed to be swift on the open sea and nimble in the narrow confines of a river, I'd say."

"The low prow would help it stay hidden," I added. "While the tall sides would offer some protection, from the sea, the elements--or enemies."

Seymuhr wandered back into view, hiking up his trousers with a crooked smile on his face. "The hull still repels water," he added.

"With no insignia or crest, this is not part of any recognized fleet," Merrick surmised. "Or at least it was not when it met this fate."

I nodded, seeing what he was getting to. His conclusion made sense.

"Pirates."

"Aye," he said, lowering his voice and putting a bit of sand into the word. "A resourceful band, too, if the location of their vessel is any indication."

"Or an...un...fortu nate one."

"Everyone's fortune runs thin at the end," Seymuhr said. "At least they didn't drown."

"That we know of," I said. "It could be that the crew was not with their ship when it landed or was brought or however it appeared here. If they were, what became of them? Where are their remains?"

The question brought a chill to my spine. For if the members of the pirate crew were indeed in their ship when it made it to its final resting spot, then it was possible that they befell some additional malice, perhaps even an evil so foul it not only took their lives, but erased all trace of their existence, leaving nothing behind. Not a single bone.