The winds of the Mistral were building. A line of dark clouds bruised the northern horizon, rolling out from the mainland as the wind intensified and clocked around to the north. The growing gale swept across the open water and funneled into the strait between the islands, churning the narrow stretches of open water into chaos and confusion.
A galliot was trapped in this watery confusion. It struggled to windward, trying desperately to fight its way out of the strait. The elements fiercely resisted its attempts to break free and wear around the tall headland of the island to the safety of a harbor just beyond.
The small war galley was a long, low, fully decked vessel of the new Genoese design. The galley’s innovations included an extended prow that was used for boarding enemy ships rather than ramming them. It steered by a rudder mounted on its pointed stern instead of a steering oar, and its two masts bore triangular lateen sails.
The ship bore the beauseant, a piebald black and white ensign, at its masthead. Its black and white squares symbolized the dualistic nature of the universe. Life is both good and evil; both purity and sin are present. The flag indicated the presence of a seneschal, a high ranking knight, of the two hundred year-old 'militi templi', the Knights Templar.
So begins the prologue of Message of the Mistral, the first book in the Llyrical Adventure Series.
Copyright 2005 John O'Neal