Chapter 11: Chapter Ten: Face Forward

The party froze in disbelief, silence falling over the plains, until it was broken as Cedric began to cry out. Ace still held back his tears, while Valdus trembled in horror. He felt sick and confused, retching whilst in tears as he failed to comprehend the sudden events. Hopelessness gripped at the three of them. Despite the fact that the shadows were vanquished, they felt defeated, knowing they couldn’t do anything to prevent Lucile’s sacrifice.

 

Hours later...

The night had grown cold, but the group couldn’t care less.

Cedric then finally broke the silence once more,
“I’ll...search... I’ll find somewhere to go - a new place to stay. I can’t just leave and return to the Spirit Weave until this realm is safe... Lucile trusted in us to push through this; to become stronger and to continue living... I’m not breaking that trust.”

Valdus and Ace raised their heads to Cedric and clenched their fists.

“We have to look forward...to find where we need to go...”
Cedric continued, digging his claws into the dirt,
“...we have to do...something...!”

Valdus and Ace then shook off their grief and stood up.

“We’ll each become stronger and uncover everything we can. Our true journey... This is where it begins.”
Ace said.

Cedric fell quiet again for a moment, then managed a small smile.
“Lucile is with the Ancestors now... I heard him tell you that this was the fate he sought after. He’ll be watching over us, so...let’s not let him down.”

With a few final exchanges, the group then readied to move on, and Cedric parted ways with Valdus and Ace.

 

Two days had passed since then. Valdus and Ace continued to train against any foes they faced in the Cardinal Plains as they travelled, but they hadn’t encountered a powerful shadow. Not since Lucile’s sacrifice. With yet another group of shadows dealt with, they rested for a moment to gather their energy, setting up camp to discuss their plans.

“Well, what now?”
Valdus asked,
“We’ve travelled for long enough.”

“We should be heading toward the Azure Expanse, by now. If I remember correctly, there’s always been this abandoned ship left behind at the Southsun Beaches. I get the feeling travelling the ocean’s waters would be a good idea. To rest up and finally be at a little more ease. I doubt it’s just as bad out there...”
Ace said,
“We could get a good look at some other areas too, if we find any.”

“I guess, yeah... I just hope we can find someplace safe to stay for a few more days soon. Travelling out and about for too long isn’t going to be fun, and all we can do is walk or run. What I’d kill to have wings...”
Valdus sighed.

“That, or to have some ride that could make our journey a little easier.”
Ace commented,
“Anyway, let’s get some sleep, we’ll continue early in the morning again.

As daybreak came, they kept onward, chatting along the way until they arrived at the beach Ace mentioned. The sand glistened with a colour so close to gold, and the water was clear and pristine. As Ace had suspected, a small raft was docked nearby a large ship that was anchored by the shore. It was wooden, resembling that of a sloop-of-war - surprisingly untouched - but not a single cannon was lined across it. Only Valdus and Ace seemed present at the beach, so they both climbed aboard and lifted the anchor.

Before Valdus could take one more look at the grassy plains up close, they had set sail and the ship was moving smoothly. He took a moment to scan the deck, checking out the features and for anything that may have been left behind. To his surprise, a number of levers were set at the helm where Ace stood, giving him enough to sail the ship well on his own.

“The wind is great out here in the ocean!”
Ace called out,
“Good thing I retained my memory of being a helmsman while I was a lot younger, not that I ever got to sail far out, until now!”

“I don’t think I’ve been on a ship out at sea more than once. I’ve been thinking, though... Why didn’t we go check out the Canyon of Flames instead?”
Valdus asked.

“Well, like I said, I felt the ship would be a nice idea to at least test out. You’d agree, right?”
Ace gave a slight smirk.

Valdus chuckled and sighed. An entire ship - abandoned - and now they had it.

Ace is right. We’d probably be able to find a whole new area to look at. New discoveries awaiting...!
Valdus pondered.

The very idea of finding more places out at sea was invigorating to the two adventurers, the excitement lifting up their spirits. Valdus moved over to stand at the port side of the ship and stared out into the water.

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“It’s quite a nice view, isn’t it?”
Ace called out again.

“Sure is, and soon there’ll be more to see.”
Valdus replied.

“Can’t agree more. The elders always read stories of explorers and their perilous adventures when I was a child, and they always spoke of untold lands. The vastness of this realm... Think of the things we could find!”
Ace exclaimed.

All seemed well planned, and the two felt more than ready for the adventures ahead. Their exhilaration soon then shifted though when they both noticed the change in the waves below. The waters began to grow stronger with each surge - the pristine glow from the water no longer visible - and the water was no longer clear either. It had turned to a dark, watery abyss. The ship began to shake from the waves, and an eerie shadow passed by in the waters. Valdus and Ace looked around in disbelief. Ace continued to stand by at the helm while Valdus ran to the other side of the ship, but the shadow was gone. The two then looked back at each other, and they shook their heads.

“My eyes aren’t deceiving me, right...? Whatever that was, it was huge!”
Ace shouted.

“I think I saw it too, but it’s gone already! We need to be careful.”
Valdus called back.

He then scanned the ship one more time, in hopes to sight some sort of weapon, or rather anything that’d be of help. With nothing on deck, he rushed down to the lower quarters, still finding nothing of help. Soon enough, he rushed back to the front deck, empty-handed. It seemed that all they had was the swords on their backs. The ship shook again, and a hiss echoed from the water’s depths. Ace called to drop the anchor, and Valdus did as requested. Ace then tied up the ship’s wheel and hopped down from the helm – to the centre of the ship where Valdus was – and they stood back-to-back, unaware of what dangers were lurking below.

Drawing their swords, they felt the doubt of being able to escape creeping up their backs. Their choices were either to fight with all they had, or to die trying, having barely even begun their journey. If whatever was below were to attack, their chances of fighting back would be heavily weighed down. Still, they steeled themselves.

“Got any ideas?”
Ace asked.

Valdus laughed and flashed a grin,
“Nope. How about you?”

“Wish I did.”
Ace humoured.

They both then fell silent. The waves began to grow even stronger, and another hiss was heard. A storm began to brew, causing heavy rain to pour down onto the ship. The strong winds and waves from the storm shook the ship, proving it to be difficult to hold ground while being toppled from side-to-side. Ace had much more difficulty, seeing as he was equipped with a large greatsword, as well as heavy armour. Still, he managed to hold ground as well as Valdus despite all that, as a faint, orange aura flowed from below his feet. The two struggled to see anything through the storm, as it shrouded out any lights. Black clouds and thunder filled the sky, and soon a cold chill and thick mist seeped across the surface of the ocean, enveloping the ship.

Valdus shivered, both from fear and the cold. A silhouette then began to emerge from the waters. Large claws gripped onto the edge of the ship where the silhouette was, holding the ship still. Deep, cerulean eyes glowed from the silhouette. It had a serpentine body, and frills surrounded its neck. It was huge, bigger than the ship. It had fins across its sides, and large, folded wings. The storm and the waves were seemingly controlled by the dragon, surging further while it towered over the ship.

“By the Ancestors... Why’s a dragon showing itself out here, like this?”
Ace shouted with a shaken voice.

Lightning flashed from the storm, lighting up the darkness momentarily. The dragon had scales coloured a darker shade than its eyes and wore a sadistic smile as it gazed down at the two adventurers. As well as that, a faint black mist enveloped the dragon’s body.

This is probably why nobody had explored the seas...and why the ship was abandoned...!
A sense of regret filled Ace, as he only now realised the mistake that he and Valdus had made.

The dragon laughed, its grin widening as it spoke,
“I never expected to find more visitors around here... You two seem like you’ll be much more fun than the previous lot. They were weak. Let’s hope you two aren’t!”

The dragon dove back into the water soon after. Valdus then immediately sensed a powerful Essence rushing upward from below the ship. With that in mind, he went with his instinct.

He called out to Ace, warning him,
“Ace, run!! It’s below the ship!”

Ace listened to Valdus’s warning, and they both ran to opposite sides of the ship. As soon as they ran, the dragon rose from below the ship, instantly shattering the entire vessel in half. For Valdus, it felt as if everything slowed down at that moment. He shifted his stance once he reached the front of the ship, turning to face the dragon.

He felt himself freeze as he saw its eyes avert, now looking directly at him. Ace shouted out to him, but before Valdus could react, the dragon threw itself toward him and time sped back up. It spread out its four wings; two at its upper body and two at its lower. Valdus felt a crushing force as the dragon hit him, attempting to use his sword to block its attack, but it had no use. Somehow, he wasn’t pulverised, but was thrown back against the taffrail behind him.

“You do seem strong. Stronger than those I’ve faced before, but you’re still weak!”
The dragon mocked.

It then spun around, but instead of hitting Valdus it had noticed Ace running toward it. The dragon whipped the other half of the ship with its tail, throwing Ace off and breaking that half. It then spun around again, breaking the rest of the ship and throwing Valdus off as well. By now, their chances of survival were even slimmer than before. After landing in the water, Valdus and Ace managed to find a few remnants of the ship to stand on, though their distance between each other had grown as the wreckage drifted through the raging waters.

The hell do we do now...?
Valdus tried to think.

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