The captain managed the center ‒ and single ‒ rectangular sail of his ship as we neared El-Arish port. Illias and Damien seemed to be in a heated discussion at the front of the vessel. The dwarf’s hands gestured wildly about his body while my buddy stood still with his arms folded. Even through his helmet’s silhouette I could see his disinterest.

“Thanks for the ride.” I walked up to the captain as he worked. “On behalf of both me and my friends, we truly appreciate it.”

“Oh, it’s no bother.” He smiled as he wiped his forehead with his forearm. His bald head caught the sunlight just right with this action, temporarily blinding me. “My crew appreciates the rest you’ve allowed them to have by taking up their duties over the course of our voyage. They haven’t been able to sleep this long below deck in years.”

“It’s the least we could do.” I returned the smile.

“I don’t know how you and your human friend can take the heat in your armor.” He scratched his bare, hairy chest. “If you weren’t my guests I would’ve taken these trousers off as well as my shirt a long time ago.”

I feigned a laugh so as to not make him feel awkward. “We’re used to it.”

“Oh, I’m sure.” He glanced behind him at the land ahead. “We’re close. Let’s dock. Finish raising the sail while I steer us in at the oar.”

He handed me the rope, revealing his calloused hands. As soon as I took it, he dashed over to the oar on the port side. Meanwhile, I tugged down, careful this time not to do so too hard, and once the sail had been fully raised, I tied it in place.

“If you two could stop bickering for a moment.” The captain yelled at Damien and Illias. “When we settle into our berth can you tie the ropes to the mooring poles?”

The two of them looked at each other, then at the Phoenician, and nodded. They took up their positions on either side of the vessel as we began the docking process.

A total of seven wooden docks extended from the harbor, of which six were occupied by other similar trading ships. The middle one being our destination, we slowed down enough to avoid knocking the floating docks into the other ships next to them. The citizens and workers at the harbor cleared out to give us ample room to work with.

“Easy…” The captain muttered as we entered the berth. 

Illias and Damien took their ropes, both of which were tied to the ship’s balcony, and jumped off onto either dock. Upon landing, they tied them ‘round the farthest mooring pole of their dock, though Illias took a little longer, as he was less agile than his dwarven counterpart. 

“Welcome to the northern Sinai desert of Egypt, kid.” The captain set down the oar and brushed his hands together. “Hope you find what you’re looking for here.”

El-Arish was a relatively small harbor when compared to the likes of Piraeus or Phalerum. There were various sheds with stone walls and brown tiled roofs in the area, and piles of wooden planks and stone bricks scattered around as well. A decent amount of humans and elves walked about in the typical Egyptian white tunic, accessorized by a golden collar and black waistband.

“I’d better go join them ashore.” I walked up to the captain and extended my hand. “Chaire.”

“Enough gratitude.” He grinned as he took my forearm and shook it, his bare skin squeaking slightly against my armor. “Go do what you came here to do.”

“Wait.” I tilted my head. “It just occurred to me that I never got your name.”

“Adon.” He cleared his throat as he released his grip from mine. “Adon Frost.”

“Last name, huh?”

“Married to an elf back on Crete.” He chuckled. “Runs a foster house. You know how their kind can be with the whole ‘first and last name’ business sometimes.”

“Fair enough.” I smiled, then turned my back to leave. “Hope I see you again, Adon.”

I leapt over the starboard side of the ship and thudded onto the dock where Illias already stood.

“Hi.” He said blankly.

“Hi?” I raised an eyebrow.

“Aren’t you forgetting something?”

“I don’t‒”

He banged the base of his spear onto the wood.

“Oh…” I sucked air through gritted teeth. “Right.”

I extended my arms out in a ‘T’ pose and both my spears flew from the quarterdeck of the ship we just left and into my hands. After catching them, I strapped them to their slots on the back of my cuirass in an ‘X’ figure.

“Pfft.” He rolled his eyes. “Show-off.”

The two of us walked up the rest of the dock to greet Damien. He awaited us atop a camel and held the reins of two horses, one stallion standing on either side of him.

“How’d you get these so fast?” My eyes darted from the brown horse on my right, to the camel, to the tan horse on my left.

“Stole ‘em.” He motioned for us to take the reins. “Can we get going?”

“On stolen animals?” I sighed. “That’s not very nice.”

“Then stay here and get caught.” He dropped the reins and took hold of the camel’s. “I’m headed out.”

Illias jogged up to the dark-brown horse, patted its snout, and mounted it. With reins in hand, he followed Damien.

“Well.” I inched up to the tan horse and grabbed the dangling reins. “I’ll bring you back to your owner if Damien lets me.”

It snorted and shook its head.

“Promise.” I smiled as I mounted the steed to catch up with Damien and Illias. Once I did, they were already engaged in a conversation.

“So you have no idea where we’re going.” Illias grunted.

“That’s not what I said.” The dwarf responded in a monotone voice. “I know what we need to keep an eye out for, and I know that our destination is directly south of this town.”

“That clarifies things.”

“Also, you two are lucky we’re in the Sinai peninsula of Egypt.” He continued. “Not as many Persian loyalists here to spot out your Grecian hoplite attire as there are on the mainland.”

We moved at a trot until we reached the end of the harbor, then picked up some speed. As we ventured south, the rest of the town behind the harbor opened up as we traveled parallel to it. Countless more tunic-dressed humans and elves ‒ and children of both races ‒ walked upon the sand-covered stone streets in their sandals. Houses of mud-made brick, with open, high cut windows, stood all over, indicating a lack of nobility in the town. Stone wells were stationed in the middle of the road every few blocks too.

“How’d you even get up on the camel?” Illias smirked. “Considering your height.”

“I jumped.” Damien, still in monotone, responded. 

“So what are we looking for?” My skin underneath my armor started getting a little warm as the sun peaked in its noon position.

“I have a contact within the House of Ra. It’s an order of priestesses.” The dwarf fidgeted atop his mount. “She said to, and I quote, ‘venture south from the harbor-town of El-Arish until you see the black and gold falcon beneath the sun reaching for the temple’ so… yea.”

“I think she’s referring to a statue of Ra.” I combed at my horse’s mane. “He has the head of a falcon, and is usually wearing a sun disc as a crown. I think ‘black and gold’ is referring to the colors of the statue, so it may be made of granite, and the ‘reaching for the temple’ thing probably just has to do with the positioning of his hands.”

“Why she couldn’t just tell me that to begin with, I don’t know.” Damien sighed. “Take the lead and let us know when you see it.”

“You sure? I‒”

“Not gonna ask again.”

I looked at Illias for some help, but he just smirked.

“Whatever.” I kicked my horse’s stomach and she burst into full stride. “Try to keep up!”