“Argh!” Arwin groaned after someone, splashing cold water on her, suddenly woke her up. She felt intense throbbing pain in her head.

Half asleep, she slowly tried to stand up but immediately stumbled down and realized that it was because she was shackled on the wall. Arwin was chained, both her arms and feet, with a normal and rusty metal.

She protested,  “What the―”

Before Arwin could see what else is wrong with her, someone suddenly hit her on the head, and the pain woke her up completely. She then finally realized that she wasn’t alone inside that reeking place.

She started to look around and saw that there were at least twenty others, shackled, in the same manner as her in the dim room. The place looked like a cave with nothing but stones and metals binding them, but why couldn’t she get out? By now, her crewmate must’ve rescued-

Her thoughts were cut off and soon turned to worries, where’s the rest of her crew? Their ship? She tried to break free from her shackles forcibly.

However, before she could even look around better or even say anything, she was slapped again, and someone said mockingly, “Wake up sleepy head! We aren’t going on a vacation! Or do you think it is a holiday for now? Wake up now, miss princess! I still wonder how a petty woman like you managed to be a Night Rose crew! Oh well! It doesn’t matter, as I won’t see you anymore once we arrived at the Shadowcoast. So stand up now! We will transport you to a steamship soon.” The prison guard shouted rudely.

Arwin growled in a fury and said, “How dare you! I’m the captain of Night Rose!”

The guard laughed at her, hysterically, “How can you be the captain? You’re a woman! Besides, we already caught the captain of Night Rose, no use in saving his ass now.”

Arwin felt a sting in her heart as she remembered her last memories of Talfen knocking her out, her voice trembled as she asks, “Who… who’s the captain?”

“You pathetic newbie!” The guard kicks her in the gut before answering, “You don’t even know your captain’s name? Is it Taflan? Taflen?”

“Talfen.” Arwin shudders

“Yeah, that big old guy.” The guard then opened some of the shackles from Arwin’s back and gestured for her to move outside.

Only now, Arwin realized that she didn’t have the coat that usually covers her neck, and her small magic device that converts her voice into a deeper tone. It was gone with her coat. She was only wearing a white undershirt, underneath; her chest was still covered with bandages. She also has brown pants on and a simple leather shoes, at least.

She was wearing something simple that could not completely hide her true gender. Because of that, even with a short hairstyle and men’s clothes, some people can easily recognize her as a woman.

She came back to her sense; Talfen removed her clothing… did they, by chance, recognize her gender? Arwin shakes her head; she worries about Talfen and the rest. They wouldn’t accept being a slave, so she could only guess that they were sent to a death sentence. She knew she had to come to their aid quickly

When Arwin finally got to the deck, she was suddenly blinded by the sun’s brightness. She started to squint her eyes while still trying to look around.

Then someone slapped her back and said, “Miss, as I said before, we aren’t on vacation here! Keep moving! You aren’t a tourist. Or, if you want to be one, any of these soldiers would be ready to kill you after they had fun using your body for pleasure. Since I have made a vow to treat every prisoner as equal, and the laws of our kingdom prevent us from touching prisoners, you are safe as long as you don’t do anything stupid and will listen to orders. So keep moving! Hop, hop, hop! Straight to that ship now! Hurry!” The prison guard shouted out and pointed towards an old steam-driven airship.

“As you see, this is the farthest we can take you using a magic-powered airship. For the rest of your journey, you have to get used with an old and rugged steamship and pray that you will land safely to the Shadowcoast.”, the prison guard added while he started to lead the prisoners toward the old airship, and only now did  Arwin saw the massive landmass in the distance.

‘How did I get here? What happened to my crew and to me?’ Arwin questioned herself silently.

It did not take long for her to remember what happened and cursed out in her mind.

‘That bastard, Talfen! Why did he save my life while he sacrificed himself? I bet it is because he thinks that there was no other choice, and I have a chance to live at Shadowcoast.’ She subconsciously touched the spot where Taflen had hit her and felt the dried blood that is still on her head. ‘I will get my revenge. I promise that, and I will bury every single last of you properly.’ Arwin promised while she stepped at the airship.

She hasn’t seen a steamship since she was a little kid. At that time, her father was still alive, and she was only five years old. Steamships were still quite common before, and Arwin used to help her father repair quite a lot of them.

However, when she was around ten years old, magic researches suddenly emerged and have gotten out of hand, especially when the magic stones and its potential had been discovered. People realized that they could use them as an energy source to power machine engines that is even stronger and efficient than steam. 

With that, everyone became interested, and businessmen and authorities started to provide funds to support magic researches that could further improve its capacity and to explore further what it can offer. Mages also became far more respected and significant compared to before, where they were looked down upon for being useless in the society. Today, more magic branches were built, and the world is now basically surrounded by magic. Because of this, the use of steam and science was eventually forgotten.

When Arwin saw the steam engine on the airship, she felt slightly nostalgic as she remembered how her father used to carry her on his shoulders while pointing at different parts of the airships that he was repairing. 

“Miss! The earth is calling you. Wake up!” The prison guard shouted out, and Arwin finally snapped out from her memories.

"Good! You are finally awake! Now stop daydreaming and dilly-dallying! Go and take your spot from there and sit down.” The prison guard said and pointed at an empty spot on the deck of the airship.

Arwin obeyed him and went to sit down at the spot that the guard pointed at. She then started to scan her surroundings once again, mostly focusing on the other prisoners.

As her eyes trail, she saw that they were mostly male, but there were also a few females among them. Their ages varied. Arwin could guess that the youngest could probably be around fifteen years old, while the oldest looks to be around sixty. They all seemed accustomed to the way things are around here.

It is not her business, but she can’t stop but wonder what those people’s past could be. Is there anyone here who might be the same as her? In the Shadowcoast, she would need allies, as she will not be able to survive alone. Still, she doesn’t want to get an ally who would just use her, so she should be wise and keen in choosing her people. 

With this in mind, she silently observed them as they do the same with her. 

She was the new girl, so it was natural for them to stare and wonder what she did to end up serving in a place like that.