Marco had been in the garden of his cousin's home when the horror had come. He heard the sounds and saw the flames before he had any idea of what had descended upon the village. In his naivety he had assumed that the Spanish were attacking by sea and he had ran inside to arm himself. He quickly buckled on his sword belt with his rapier, pulled a leather jerkin over his head and grabbed a brace of fine flintlock pistols before running out into the night. His cousin had called for him to stay behind but he had carried in heedless to his cries. Marco's only thought had been to help defend the village from the enemy, as was his duty.
The enemy he faced was not one he was prepared to deal with. Having followed the direction of the flames he saw that the smoke had filled the sky and blackened the stars, not light shone from above but the light from the inferno was enough to outline a great beast that soared over the village, spewing fire and death down onto its inhabitants. Marco had been stunned by the sight, his mind had shot back to the priests who had educated him in the ways of God when he was a child and his initial thought was that surely this was the Devil come to earth. However, Marco had ever been a practical man and he resolved that this was a physical creature that must have some kind of natural explanation.
Thinking that a beast of this size could surely only be harmed by some kind of cannon he had attempted to race to the docks where there would be cannon on some of the ships. The beast's rampage had halted his progress however when it brought a building down almost right on top of Marco. Looking around at the inferno and the destruction he knew that there was nothing that he could do on his own to prevent the doom of this town. Although it pained him to do so, he knew that the only way to get through this night would be to take refuge. The way back to this cousin's residence was now blocked so he moved, along with a number of other people, to the palace which could offer a secure sanctuary against the carnage that surrounded them.
Once he reached the palace he had volunteered himself to help the palace guards in anything they required. This mostly consisted of herding frightened townspeople into a group and keeping them contained. It wasn't glamorous work but he did it willingly enough, anything to prevent him being idle. It was a long and miserable night and Marco thanked God when the beast left the skies and the sun finally climbed above the horizon. Everyone seemed to move as though in a daze, Marco was among them. He could not fathom fully what it was that had caused this, he had not seen the beast clearly but he knew it was unlike anything he had ever seen before.
When the sun had risen fully he headed out of the palace and began helping to pick through the rubble and the burnt out buildings for any survivors of the disaster. They found mostly burnt or crushed corpses. It seemed that nobody outside of the palace and the hermitage had made it through the night, at least none that Marco had found. Finally, after clearing a large portion of rubble, Marco had been able to reach his cousin's residence, or at least what remained of it. It had been crushed completely, he knew that his cousin Frederico was dead, nobody would survive such destruction. Although they hadn't been that close, Marco had still cared for his cousin and had appreciated the hospitality that he had been given since he had been injured.
Marco continued sifting through the wreckage of the village, he helped lay out the bodies they found, including his cousin, so they could be buried properly. Some of the bodies were so charred it was impossible to tell whether they had been a man or a woman let alone who they had been. In some cases entire families had died in their homes, it was a truly harrowing experience even for someone accustomed to death and mayhem. Marco stopped to take a drink of water when the town criers went to work, announcing that the count would be paying a reward for a certain task. Marco thought for sure it must be related to the beast, if it was to be hunted he knew that he could prove some aid. So it was that he found himself once more at the palace.
The whistle had caught his attention and he turned to see a man, Marco could tell by his appearance and manner that he was a seaman. The way he ordered around the other sailors confirmed his assessment. He listened as the man explained the expedition. The bureaucrat beside the said that the expedition had nothing to do with the "dragon", as they were referring to it and Marco supposed that the creature he had seen in the night sky could well be considered a dragon. The man's lies would only convince a fool, a relief mission going out suddenly after the destruction of the town by some creature? Unlikely, although he believed that there was a god he did not believe that they had been punished by him, there was a physical creature responsible and Marco would help destroy it.
He made his way to the dock and boarded the ship, he still has his rapier and leather jerkin worn openly but he had concealed his pistols in with a blanket and some other items that he had either purchased on the way to the dock or had salvaged from the wreckage of his cousin's home. His fine trousers and shirt were dirty and worn from his work clearing away the debris and only his red coat was in good condition and revealed his high birth. Taking his belongings below deck he tucked them away in a corner near a cot that would be his own for the voyage. He returned to the deck and leant what help he could in bringing items aboard. Although he was a soldier rather than a sailor he had spent enough time at sea to know the basics of ship work, he also knew that everyone on a ship worked, sailor or not so he made himself useful.
When the captain called the people together he joined them and listened in, he had no idea who the man was but he gathered from the speech that he was a pirate or he used to be one at least. It struck him as odd that a pirate would be leading an expedition for a Portuguese count but the man seemed to know his business so Marco had no objections to his leadership. In the brief exchange that followed between the captain and what appeared to be his two former shipmates he learned the man's name and also saw that he had a fiery streak through him, not a man to cross, not that Marco had considered it.
By the time the ship had cast off, Marco had gotten talking to some of the sailors who were part of the crew and they had warmed up to him. He was accustomed to dealing with soldiers and these sailors were not too different from the men he had led in battle. He was sitting with them as the food was brought out and he began wolfing it down gratefully, he had had a full day of intensive labour and had built up an appetite. The mood on board was high and Marco joined in with the singing, he hadn't heard the song before but picking it up was easy. He felt that this may well be an enjoyable journey, what may lay in wait for them in Morocco however, that may not be so enjoyable.
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