Chapter 18: The Shipyard

"Ready Merlin?" asked Khoury.

"Give it your best shot." replied Merlin.

Upon hearing those words, Khoury ran at Merlin, holding a small elliptical ball in his hands. Merlin moved rapidly toward Khoury, trying to keep the ball from passing the goal line. Khoury was running so fast, he tripped over his own feet and lost the ball. Merlin, having years experience of walking rugged terrain, had no difficulty staying on his feet. He retrieved the ball as Khoury was still getting up, ran to the opposite end of the grass field, and crossed the line of sticks Khoury and Merlin had made by the beach.

"Beginner's luck!" shouted Khoury at Merlin.

"That may have been so, but we've played this game all week. I don't think I'm a beginner anymore." replied Merlin, handing Khoury the ball as he walked back to his position.

Some children had been watching Merlin and Khoury play, and asked to join in. Merlin and Khoury welcomed them. Throughout the rest of the morning, many other players were attracted, and before long, one team had seventeen, the other eighteen.

"Seems to me that you aren't playing a fair game," said a man from behind Merlin, "Mind if I join?"

Turning around, Merlin saw it was Abdul, returned from Mecca. Oddly, a week after Abdul had found Merlin wandering the desert, he had been called to Mecca, and hadn't told Merlin and Khoury why.

"We are one short; of course you can play." replied Merlin, a broad grin coming across his face.

As it turned out, Merlin's team won time after time. Strangely, it was always Abdul carrying the ball across the goal line.

After a few matches, Khoury and Merlin left their teams to speak with Abdul.

"Good game Khoury!" shouted Abdul to his son as they walked towards each other.

"How did you get so good?" asked Khoury.

"I'm the one who taught you the game, remember? I was coming back from a mission in the north where I had heard of a game they called 'fute ball', and taught you how to play when you were just a little boy."

"So why were you wanted in Mecca?" asked Merlin.

"I have another mission. They want me to go to a port some ways south and across the sea." replied Abdul.

"Won't you need a boat?" asked Merlin.

"Already have one," said Abdul, "Want to see it? Come with me."

Before too long, they were at the shipyard. Resting in the shipyard was a wide variety and array of ships. But the most curious ship was the one Abdul was pointing at.

The ship, unlike most that Merlin had seen, was shaped like a banana, and it hull was squared. Towards the back of the ship was a small cabin, with two windows. Behind the cabin, there was a small sail, insignificant compared to the massive sail on the cabin and the large sail close to the head of the ship.

"I've never seen the likes of this ship." said Merlin.

"I would say you haven't! This kind of ship is rare in parts, especially were you come from. I'm the only one with a ship like this as far as India." replied Abdul proudly.

"What kind of ship is it?"

"It's a Chinese junk. An Indian man had bought one from someone else and I bought it from him. It is a truly rare ship in most parts, and an extraordinary one as well. One of the fastest ships out there at eight knots. Now come on; let's get home. I'm sure you two want to hear about my trip."

Several hours later, long after Abdul had finished telling about his journey, Merlin laid in bed, sleep slowly overcoming him. He had been staying with abdul and Khoury for two weeks, long enough to refresh himself, and he was ready to continue his quest. The only problem was, he didn't know where to go. That hadn't kept him before, but it did now.

Merlin fell asleep still thinking of what Blaise had told him years ago, and was visited by dreams of the future. He saw himself on the sea, a storm coming close. The storm hit, and Merlin was knocked into the ocean. Just then, he woke, knowing he had to continue his quest by sea.

Silent as silence itself, Merlin stole into Abdul's room and placed a note, explaining why he had left and why he had taken the means he had. Then he followed the path to the shipyard, taking great care not to wake anyone in Jeddah.

It wasn't long before Merlin saw the ships. He quietly looked at them, searching for one in particular: Abdul's Chinese junk.

It took a while to find because it was so small, but Merlin found it with about an hour until sunrise. Merlin din't have long to raise the sails and prepare the ship for travel, and so raced against time. If Abdul were to see Merlin stealing his ship, Merlin wouldn't be able to continue his quest, keep his promise to Blaise.

Just as the sun was coming over the horizon, Merlin cut loose the anchor, and caught the south wind. Within seconds, Merlin was sailing away from the coast, and was on his way to the Utopian Realm.