On the sixth day at sea the ship came in sight of a group of islands. The air had grown very cold here, and the sky was overcast. Great cliffs rose out over the ocean as it tried to break away at them, and groves of trees filled the islands and made them dark.
Ardri could see strange figures there, peering out at them as the ship slowly sailed past. Bird like with great wings of scale and skin protruding from their bodies, they stared out from the shadows with four pairs of jacinthe eyes as their long tails twitched behind them. In their claws were clutched long rods of what might have been carved jade, like staffs or scepters.
The Stone Crow was perched upon the ship’s rail nearby, so Ardri turned to him and questioned after the strange folk of the Island.
“Cawrk,” said the Crow. “They are the Occalim, a people who once lived where now the Empire of the Seven Blossoms lies. Once the whole of the Sea with Black Waves belonged to them and much of the land around it, but they were forced from their homes by conquerors and cruel bargains. At first it was only small portions of their great kingdom that was bargained away, and though uneasy they willingly parted with such territory. But with time that little bit of forest and sea became larger. Theft and manipulation, and sometimes outright violence pushed at them while their enemies claimed ignorance. Soon they held only half of what was once their sacred lands, then it was less than that.”
Ardri stared at the islands as they fell away into the distant mist covered horizon above the waves. “Why didn’t they fight back?”
“They did. Many times. Yet they were never warriors. The Occalim were a folk of scholars, healers, and artists. Though they had warriors among them, they were not a people of war. Bit by bit they found themselves closed into smaller boundaries, what little they had being stripped away. Finally they could bear it no more and fled far from the Sea of Black Waves, but not before the final curse.”
“What curse?” asked Ardri, intrigued by the story and heart heavy for the fate of the Occalim.
The Stone Crow looked at him with its carved eyes. “They transformed the Emperor into a terrible monster who fell into the black waters of the sea. He was ravenous and dangerous and all fled whenever his form came near to the shore. Since their leader was gone and those who had changed him had fled, the Empire was forced to find a new ruler, and this one they were determined to protect, even at the expense of his freedom.”
At last the islands faded out of sight and only the wind tossed waters of the Flowered Ocean could be seen.
