Jarmin sat and wrapped his blanket around himself, shivering. He was so scared already that Orion’s unexpected whisper had almost made him jump.
“Can’t sleep, Jarmin?” asked Orion and added, looking around, “Well, you’re not alone. Looks like we’re all awake.”
One after the other, the boys raised their shaggy heads and exchanged looks in the dark.
“I’ve never been so close to the No Man’s Land,” whispered Kosta. His voice sounded even worse now when the air was cold and damp. “I know that it’s a rare thing that some dark creature sneaks beyond Firaskian patrols but it’s not impossible.”
“Orion…” said Jarmin with a pitiful sniff. “What are moroks like?”
“Oh no, no scary stories in the nighttime!” answered Orion with a nervous laugh. “That would be bad for the team’s morale.”
“Okay… But maybe you can tell me a fun story then?”
The pure hope in little Jarmin’s voice was too touching for him to refuse.
“Well, I know some stories. They’re not as cool as Oasis’s are, of course…” said Orion.
He even yawned as a part of play-acting and it worked: the listeners’ interest spiced up now, everyone moved closer; Pai promptly cast a light spell to scare all the night fears away and create a proper storytelling atmosphere. The spell – Fiat-lux, as Pai named it – resembled a classic Liht only remotely. It was much more flammable; every droplet that fell onto it from the leaky roof went up in vapour with a sharp hiss as it would on a hot frying pan. Also, Fiat-lux was a rather unstable light source, it flickered like a candle in the wind. That only suited the story-time, though.
“How about a cool real-life story?” asked Orion. “Our Sainar is not the only one who remembers his family history three millennia into the past!”
“Ah, yes, Aranta said you’re a descendant of that pirate…” Lainuver tried to chime in but Orion frantically waved his hands. “I’ll get to that! Story first!”
***
Three thousand years ago, there lived a great pirate Ziga-Ziga. It’s unknown whether his ambassa or his talent was the reason, but no one could match him in his bravery and his cunning except his friend Orion the son of stars. Together, they raided ships. Together, they spent their bloody gold on deeds good and evil.
But it wasn’t only the joy of piracy that the two friends had in common. Often, they stood together on the bow of Lafarg, Ziga’s giant trimaran, and looked at the horizon, where the charted sea ended and Ocean Fayera began. They talked of unknown lands and dreamed of visiting them one day, but for a long while, the dreams just remained dreams.