Chapter 17: The Isle of Illusions
The small audience was silent as Jafar al-Sharif finished his tale of Atluri’s fall from grace. As was true for any good story, each listener was contemplating the sins of King Phinomexian and his people, and was weighing them against his own transgressions.
“There are no further official reports about Atluri,” Jafar concluded.
“But there are plenty of unofficial ones,” said their captain. “El-Hadar has heard many stories from other sailors on other ships traveling out into the Western Sea, about strange creatures that look like people swimming among the waves like porpoises. But none would ever approach when hailed.”
“Can you blame them for being leery of strangers?” Leila said.
“There is also the report from Ali Maimun,” said Jafar, “that he visited
