Brian brought the car to a stop just before the harbour to the north of Maubeuge, parking outside a small but luxurious hotel that overlooked the many ships that were docked at the harbour. The weather was calm and they sat almost still, waiting for their next journeys out to sea.
Dom could see that their were two guards stood at the entrance to the hotel, both wearing black suits and had short crew cut hair styles. They were both armed with long swords at their waist and wore had a silver crest on their upper right chest of two swords crossing over a mountain.
"We have arrived." Brian announced as he turned the engine off and unlocked the car doors. "If you would like to stretch your legs, I will let the Captain know that you have arrived."
"Thank you Brian." Dom replied, as he stepped out of the car and smelt the sea air. Brian headed towards the two guards at the front of the hotel, who both saluted Brian with a punch to their chest as he entered in to the hotel.
Dom stood around and waited for several seconds, listening to the sound of sea birds that flew over head. He could also hear some small waves lapping against the harbour, and the sea air felt refreshing on his skin. He had been to the beach a few times in his youth, when everything was peaceful before the last war, but it was so long ago his memories were minimal.
Brian soon returned, the guards saluting again as he passed. He waved his hand back at them, signalling for them to stop as he approached Dom.
"The Captain has said that we are not the last to arrive, which is a relief!" Brian smiled, "We are still waiting on one more, so we can head inside for now and wait with the rest."
"Are there many travelling?" Dom asked, happy that he wasn't the last to arrive, and hadn't thought about if he would be travelling alone or not.
"There are several swordsmen who are attending the main sect, and two others who are joining the more secretive area such as yourself." Brian replied quietly, "Please be mindful of yourself, the way you present yourself in front of the others is important for your future."
Brian then bowed his head and directed Dom towards the hotel entrance, a slight tinge of nerves hitting him. His plan to join Central seemed much simpler than joining the Peaks, but Annabel Howard who had represented the Peaks had been very persuasive. As Dom passed the two guards, they kept their eyes straight and forwards, not acknowledging him as he passed, stern and serious in their role.
The doors opened inwards, and in front of Dom was a large white open space with a high ceiling with dangling chandeliers. Directly in front of him was a large reception, which had two members of staff stood patiently. Dom wasn't sure if that was where to head to, but he soon noticed another two men in black suits, with swords at their waist, stood near a seating area to the left of the entrance.
Beside the two men, was a third man who wore a black military beret with the same silver crest that the others had on their suits. Sat down beside them was a groups of students of a similar age to Dom. The group had eight males and two females, wearing a variety of outfits. Opposite them was a male who sat alone and reading a book. The group were sat across two sofas and some chairs, whilst the man alone had a sofa to himself that was opposite the group, his head deep in to what ever he was reading.
"This way please." Brian said from beside him, pointing towards the group. Dom followed and Brian quickly did the introductions to the man in the beret. "Mr Lazarus, please meet Captain Theo Kelly. Captain Kelly, please meet Mr Dominic Lazarus."
"You'll be happy to know you are not last." Captain Kelly replied with a reassuring smile, before putting his hand out to shake Dom's, He was younger than Brian, most likely in his mid to late twenties and was clean shaven. "Please take a seat next to Mr Turner over there who is reading a book. We will complete introductions when our final guest arrives if we have time."
"Thank you Captain Kelly, I look forward to speaking with the group." Dom replied, shaking his hand. He awkwardly let go after Captain Kelly squeezed his hand extremely tight, Dom had returned the squeeze and was surprised when Captain Kelly gave him a reassuring nod. After letting go, he headed towards the person introduced as Mr Turner.
"It's great to see you again Major Thorn." Captain Kelly said to Brian as Dom took his seat, surprised by the conversation between the two and not realising that Brian held such a rank, they had spent many hours together in the car on the way but the conversation hadn't come up.
"And you Kelly. I'm going to check in to my room and get some rest, it's a long drive." Brian replied kindly, patting the Captain on the shoulder, before heading towards the reception desk.
As Dom sat down, Mr Turner didn't raise his head, the book being his only goal currently. Mr Turner had mouse brown hair and from what Dom could see, brown eyes. Dom felt a bit awkward and wasn't sure how to introduce himself, but was rescued by one of the men in the larger group.
"Don't worry about Mr Turner." The man said in a gentle tone, with no teasing involved. He had light blonde hair that was cut in a crew cut similar to the men in black suits. "He is currently doing some important research and has asked to not be interrupted."
"My name is Dom, it's nice to meet you." Dom replied to the man, reaching his hand across the gap between the sofa's and shaking his hand. He was extremely muscular, with his shoulders being almost twice as wide as Dom's.
"Pleasure to meet you Dom, my name is Stephen Knight." He smiled, "Are you excited for the journey? I have never been on a ship before."
"Nor have I." Dom replied, he had been on World Conquest Online, but never in reality.
"My brother said that the Ships that the Sword Peak use are mighty War ships." Stephen explained with an excited grin.
"What about your other brother?" A woman with long black hair and deep blue eyes beside him asked. She was also muscular, and Dom felt her biceps were bigger than his own.
"He used the Peaks Yacht, but I doubt we'll be that lucky." Stephen replied, before introducing the woman, "This is Rosie Cole, she is a bit of a pain but you'll get used to her."
"Or possibly not." Mr Turner said, raising his head from his book. "My name is Roger and I assume you are in the part of the Peaks that I am?"
"Oh, the Secret Peak?" Rosie teased joyfully, "I am very jealous!"
"As you should be!" Stephen agreed, "I am the third of four brothers to attend the 100 Peaks and none of them have ever seen the Secret Peak."
Before the conversation could continue, a new woman arrived through the doors, travelling with a woman in her forties who was dressed similar to Brian. The one dressed in blue brought the new woman towards Captain Kelly, introducing the new student as Jessica Moon. Jessica had long blonde hair and dark brown eyes, she was extremely slim, unlike Rosie and Stephen who were quite muscular. Rosie gave off vibes similar to Alice, where as Stephen reminded Dom of Gan Ning.
Jessica was directed to sit beside Dom, and it was clear who was going to the Warrior part of the Sword Peaks and who was going to the Secret Peak, just from the aura that they presented. Dom was the only one that could potentially fit in to both groups, as he was strong himself and had started to develop his own strength from playing World Conquest Online. Roger gave of a feeling of aloofness, where as Jessica held herself in a prestigious fashion, as if all those around her were below her.
Dom was about to introduce himself to Jessica, but was interrupted by Captain Kelly who began to speak to the group.
"Now that Miss Moon and Mr Lazarus have arrived, we will head towards the harbour and begin our journey across the North Sea towards the Isles of Britainy." Captain Kelly teased. As Captain Kelly announced it, Jessica turned and looked at Dom with a raised eyebrow, trying to gauge something that Dom didn't understand. "I heard Mr Knight's excitement about travelling on one of the Peaks many War Ships, however most of these have been deployed currently either on training or due to some other developments. We will instead be taking the Howard Yacht that is currently awaiting us."
"Yes!" Stephen exclaimed in excitement.
.....
The group travelled from the hotel to the harbour by foot, with the four men in black suits flanking them and Captain Kelly leading from the front. The smaller group of Dom, Jessica and Roger walked at the front, whilst the larger group followed behind with Stephen and Rosie at the front. As they walked Dom looked around and saw a variety of ships, some made from wood that were used for fishing or simple transport, and then the larger metal cargo ships that could travel across the world.
They soon approached the Yacht that was docked nearer the entrance to the harbour, a long ship that dwarfed the Trireme's that Dom had travelled on in Riverside. It was white in colour and Dom wasn't sure what material it was made from. It had one central mast, with two smaller ones to the front and rear. The ship looked extremely luxurious and was guarded by four other black dressed men with swords on their waist. A ramp spread across from the ship to the harbour, waiting for them to walk across. Between the main mast and the rear of the ship was a raised cabin, which lead to several layers below, the windows clear on the sides of the white ship. At the front of the Yacht, engraved in to the side was the word Shepherd.
Dom was soon directed across the ramp by Captain Kelly, followed by the rest of the group and the guards that had both walked with them, and had been waiting for them. As they crossed, they were met on the other side by two more guards, this time both females. Behind them were a variety of staff that wore grey outfits instead of the black, but all had the same silver crest on their outfits.
"I was worried we would have to delay departure." A voice Dom recognised called from the large cabin, as a well dressed woman with long red hair appeared.
"My apologise Lady Howard, some of our guests had a long way to travel to come here." Captain Kelly replied with a bow of the head.
"As always." She replied with a light laugh, "I'll make sure to get us on the way, please escort the guests to the dining room, I would assume they would want some food before heading to their cabins for the night."
"Very well my Lady." Captain Kelly replied, directing the group towards the cabin, whilst Annabel Howard shouted for the ships crew to prepare for departure.