novelraw Chapter 661: The Final Destination
Chapter 661: The Final Destination
By morning, the strange fog had silently dispersed.
Anna knelt by the hearth. She carefully scooped the ash into a basket, tossed in some dry wood, then scattered a handful of the ash into the corners of the cave.
The cave's steady warmth had awakened the plants—sprouts poked through the stone crevices and pushed up from the soil. The closer one drew to the heart of the shelter, the lusher the vegetation grew.
The two potted flowers on the desk had flourished, already putting forth buds. One was an iris; the other was a dark purple flower that neither Anna nor Remi recognized.
Only Adamfiya recalled seeing an illustration of it in a book from her homeland, back when she was alive.
Apparently, the purple flower was native to the Main Continent, since the pots had been brought from Ellen Royal City.
Anna scattered the remaining ash on the tilled land at the cave entrance. Next year's harvest should be rich, if, of course, next year ever comes.
"Good morning, Anna," Remi greeted.
"Morning," Anna replied with a quiet smile.
They exchanged a few more words before Anna headed back into the cave.Jimmy stumbled out of the cottage, rubbing his eyes. "Miss Anna seems to be more sociable lately."
Anna had been smiling much more often these past few days.
"Perhaps," Remi replied noncommittally.
As a scholar, she could sense the deep anxiety hiding beneath Anna's apparent calm.
Remi grabbed a few logs from the shed and started toward the shelter, calling over her shoulder to her brother, "The woodshed is half-empty. Go gather some more from the forest."
Ignoring her brother's grumbling, Remi was about to step into the cave when she heard footsteps coming from the forest beyond Watcher's Cliff.
Lu Li slowly opened his eyes.
His dark gaze fell upon the alarm clock on the desk. Through the lingering haze of sleep, he noticed yesterday's newspaper lying in the corner.
[Heroes Venture into the Wastelands by River!]
The photograph showed three old-fashioned sailing ships entering a river passage.
If their journey had gone smoothly, they should be approaching the oasis of Silence by now.
At that moment, Anna returned to the shelter. Placing the basket by the hearth, she remarked, "It's getting colder outside," and unexpectedly pressed her cool, translucent palms to Lu Li's face.
Lu Li lifted his calm, dark eyes, tilting his head slightly in her direction.
"My hands are cold," Anna replied, blinking as if expecting a reaction.
A brief pause. Lu Li, who had just started to sit up, lay back down again. "...They are cold," he confirmed in a flat voice.
Lu Li's reaction was abysmal, but Anna just laughed like a girl skipping class and snuggled up against him.
Their laughter was cut short when Remi appeared at the entrance. "The Trader is here."
As arranged the day before, the Trader had brought a fresh newspaper reporting on the expedition's progress.
He left the newspaper and departed. Lu Li unfolded the paper, its pages smelling of fresh ink and morning dew.
"What does it say?" Anna asked.
Lu Li scanned the headline and let out a soft sigh.
...
The passage was wide enough for the ship, but the chaotic currents at its entrance were tilting the vessel at a dangerous angle. If the "Old Gentleman" swung broadside to the channel, the ship behind it would have no choice but to collide...
Without a moment's hesitation, the young first mate untangled the ropes and threw himself at the ship's wheel, putting his entire weight into turning it to starboard.
Manik Pa forced his eyes open. He heard the bell but was powerless to cry out and stop his mate.
A pocket watch slipped from the first mate's pocket, its metal case gleaming in the lamplight.
Click.
The impact must have triggered the mechanism, for the lid sprang open. It revealed the current time and a portrait of a young woman—and, in its reflection, the fading figure at the ship's wheel.
The first mate had succeeded. The "Old Gentleman" swung around, narrowly avoiding the rocks of the passage and scraping a long gash along its hull.
A hundred meters further down the channel, the vessel dropped anchor and settled in the calm water.
But the worst was yet to come. Seriy Volk's ship got caught in the same treacherous currents, listed, and got stuck across the narrow passage.
From the deck of the "Old Gentleman," the sailors watched in horror as Seriy Volk's vessel blocked the river, and the last warship in the line crashed into its side.
Screeeech...
A deafening shriek of splintering wood, and then the keel snapped. The ship was nearly torn in two.
"Oh no..." one of the sailors, tied to a mast, gasped.
His remaining words vanished along with him.
The two wooden ships now blocked the passage like a cork. Debris drifted downstream, planks lazily bumping against the hull of the "Old Gentleman."
There were no survivors among the wreckage.
After the horrific collision, the ships jammed in the passage had become floating coffins...
Only the rush of water and muffled thuds from the hold disturbed the dead silence. After about ten minutes, the sailor with the Anomaly Detector struck the bell.
The sailors unfastened their restraints. Climbing onto the deck, they saw Captain Manik Pa by the cabin door. Taking off his cap, he stood silent for a few seconds.
"Men, I'm not one for fancy speeches," Manik Pa's voice rang out over the deck. He pointed forward with his cap, where the outline of a forest was visible. "We've lost too many. And now... our destination is right ahead of us... Weigh anchor!"
The rattling of chains—the heavy anchor was raised.
The "Old Gentleman" sailed on alone. The planks from the wrecks drifted alongside it, like a grim escort.
When the oasis came into clear view on the horizon, well within firing range, the "Old Gentleman" dropped anchor a mile from its target.
Manik Pa stopped the sailors who were about to remove the tarps and load the guns. Only five minutes had passed since the last Silence—it would return soon.
They would wait for it to pass. Only then would it be their turn.
Two minutes later, the deck bell rang, right on schedule.
Even though the "Old Gentleman" was anchored, the sailors tied themselves to the deck as a precaution.
The sailors were worried that this time, Silence would bring disaster. The agonizing wait lasted for about ten minutes, but when Silence retreated, no one had disappeared.
"Load the guns!" rasped the second mate, who had replaced the first.
The remaining sailors heaved the shells into the mouths of the guns.
"Take aim!"
Old salts, veterans of past wars, stepped forward to adjust the elevation. Manik Pa came out onto the deck to help as well, then took a torch from one of the men.
"The first shot is mine."
"Fire!" the second mate shouted.
The torches dipped, igniting the fuses.
Hiss...
A few seconds later, a deafening roar shattered the air, which was quickly choked with clouds of gunpowder smoke.
The shells tore through the smoke, whistling as they arced through the sky toward the edge of the oasis, aimed at a small, withered tree.
Then, a faint, unseen breeze stirred around the small tree. The shells cutting through the air were like footprints in the sand... and a wave rolled in, washing them away without a trace.
The sailors' shouts stuck in their throats.
The invisible wind swept over the oasis, carrying on into the distance...
The gunpowder smoke drifted slowly upward. The empty ship floated silently near the shore.