Jace crouched low to the ground and tried his best to sneak up on the treeline, but as there was no appreciable cover to be had on the small island except for the very vegetation he was trying to ambush this may not have been the most effective exercise of stealth ever attempted.
Still, being low to the ground and moving slowly made him feel stealthier, which made him feel slightly better… after all, if he had to be disturbing the spirits of long-dead mutineers, it was best to do so properly.
For not the first time, Jace reflected on how much and how little had changed since he had left Keeper’s Cove. Sailing around the rim with Kat definitely differed quite a bit from his daily routine at old Prit’s tavern. The tasks he was sent to do were far more varied and… he had to admit… exciting.
But there was still much of the same sense of drudgery about everything he did. He was no longer a slave, he figured, but he couldn’t say that his position had actually improved. He was the one sent to chase after ghosts in the dark. Sure, Katryn had said it was because he was the expert, but the warm glow of flattery had lasted exactly as long as it took him to plumb the depths of his knowledge on the subject, which hadn’t been long at all.
Back at the campsite, all of ten feet behind him, Katryn hissed for him to get a move on. Jace crawled one cautious step forward. His hand touched a large rock, and a thought occurred to him. Creeping into the midst of ghosts was possibly not the best idea. If he had to disturb ancient and possibly vengeful spirits, it would be better to do it from a distance.
He picked up the rock and righted himself. Hefting it in hand, he judged the distance to the trees. They were, he judged, uncomfortably close. But Katryn and the Horizon Chaser were closer. He cocked back his arm and then let the rock fly in a high arc.
It clattered off the trunk of one of the trees. The eerie glow moved not at all in response.
In fact, now that he was looking at it, the glow seemed to be extremely… inert. Where the leaves and fronds of the greenery blew in the wind it gave the appearance of movement, but in other places it seemed very uniform. Either he was dealing with very still ghosts, or the glow had some other explanation.
And as soon as he thought of that, he remembered.
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