Barrett leaned against the deck ropes as the ship rounded the coast, passing by Darfix. He wanted to get one last look at the city, a city he'd dreamed of seeing for years. No words could capture his utter disappointment at leaving it without its treasure in his hold. Plumes of smoke rose from the decrepit buildings of the Golden City. Barrett could not tell if they were merely cooking fires or the results of some clash. It could have been rival bandit gangs, a monster attack, even the other raiders who came with him. It certainly wasn't his doing.
For the first time Barrett realized something strange, a column of light hung over the Bay of Boreal. He squinted, trying to make out what it was. Sailors tell tale of all manner of illusions one can encounter on the sea, sun dogs, the fata morgana, but this he'd never heard of.
Squinting through the glare Barrett thought he glimpsed a figure on the docks. He drew out his spyglass and inspected the shore. There stood a man, ancient with snow white beard and hair yet also upstanding with an air of strength and dignity. In the center of his head he had a strange divot about the size of a large coin. He wore dingy grey robes with a trim, once blood red, now faded to a brownish maroon. Beside him stood a woman, dark of hair clad all in white and what's more, heavy with child. Her hands rested delicately on the swell of her womb.
A chill went down Barrett's spine. Suddenly the ship struck a wave and a bit of sea spray splashed into his spyglass. Obscuring it. Cursing Barrett wiped the glass clean and turned it back to the same spot. The pair were gone. He scanned over the shores but they were nowhere to be found. Barrett shrugged, then groaned. The cold air made his leg ache even worse. He retired to his cabin, leaning heavily on the old spear haft as he crossed the deck. Once cloistered away he pulled a bottle of rum from beneath his bunk and drank until he could not feel the pain in his leg, nor anything else for that matter.
