Voyaging Scales (Legend Of The Stars #3)

Prologue

They say the stars rule and replenish our world. But my life will be vowed to the seas. My soul will praise every wave. My heart voyaging with her scales.

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Ako lang ba ang natitirang nilalang na walang pakialam kahit masira ang mundong ito?

"Enoch!"

I am the wizard who can't be bonded to anyone. Hindi ko alam ang rason, at hindi ko na balak pang alamin ang rason. I'm free. Freedom is the only thing that matters to me. At saan ka nga ba makakakita pa ng walang hanggang kalayaan?

Karagatan. Walang hangganan ang karagatan. As long as I'm here, my voyage is endless.

Voyaging is my freedom. That's all I could ever ask.

Not power, not a position, not a name to be known by many, not greatness or purpose. A simple voyage in the seas was this wizard could ever need... And a flute. This is what I simply asked ever since I was a child. The movement against every wave. The hit every tide. The kisses from the sun's flares. The soothing hymns of the wind, and the continuous sails towards the horizon.

I never knew that I was sailing to a different kind of horizon. My horizon...

"Handa na tayo sa pagpalaot! Onward to Axiom!" Sigaw ng isa sa mga kasamahan ko.

They all laughed and rejoice not just for a new destination, but because of what is about to happen to that destination. Axiom, the kingdom of the Van Dorens, the house of the heir which I once called a friend. Isang malaking balita ang pinahiwatig ng mga ravensiel sa kalangitan sa gitna ng aming paglalayag.

A coronation will be held. A private coronation, and we are invited.

Well, because of me.

"Uunahan na natin sila, mga kaibigan! A toast for the new kings and queens!"

Napangiti ako habang pinagmamasdan sila sa ibaba. Ang kasamahan ko, wala silang alam kung hindi ang magsaya. Hindi na ako magugulat na kahit sa gitna ng mga naririnig naming mga suliranin na umuusbong kung saan-saan, ay ganito pa rin sila. Unbothered sailors. Completely untroubled by the pleas of small fishes just like the waves.

Iyon ang pinaniwalaan nila. Those who fight for righteous or unrighteous reasons were fishes, and we are the waves just drifting over them.

Hindi ko alam kung saan nila nakuha ang kalokohang ito.

Ngumisi ako sa pagkakasiyahan nila at tumalikod. I jumped off the railing above multiple levels of the ship, then walked down the arcs. Hawak-hawak ko ang plawta ko nang makarating sa uluhan ng barko. Nawala na ang ingay ng mga boses nila at napalitan ng tunog ng mga rumaragasang alon.

I sat on the edge and played with the flute between my fingers eyeing the farthest movements of current I could see.

"Enoch! Bakit hindi ka bumaba? We have wine from Lucien. Tinatanggihan mo na ba ito ngayon?" Dalia's ecstatic voice echoed behind me. Narinig ko pa ang tawa niya sa mga kasama natin. She even shouted for a toast.

"Malalasing kayong lahat at mawawalan ng malay ano mang oras ngayon. Ang alak ni Lucien ay may sumpa. Sinong mananatiling gising?" Sambit ko nang hindi siya nililingon.

I heard her snort. "Suit yourself. Magbantay ka diyan. Pupusit ka lang ng alak mamaya ng mag-isa, eh."

Her presence disappeared behind me. Maliit na napangiti nalang ako at itinaas ang plawta sa harapan ng mga labi. I stared at the stared at the reflection of the stars in the sea. The chaotic wind shrieked our sails.

I started playing a tune.

My fingers rhythmically enclosed the small holes of the flute for the raging wind.

My father said, a wizard who can't be bonded by the stars was not an accepted creature in Astraea. Kahit kailan ay hinding-hindi na ako magkakaroon pa ng koneksyon sa mga bituin. I would never have a gift from above and that is most of the people see, unacceptable. They easily judge me. And look at me as an unwelcome man to walk on lands.

So I thought to be here. If I can't have a single connection from the stars, at least they could still lead me somewhere through their reflection on the waters. Our map.

Patuloy ako sa pagtugtog ng plawta. Isang himig mula sa lalaking tinggalan ng karapatang makaramdam pa ng bagay na mayroon ang lahat.

Or so I thought.

Sa mga sandaling na iyon ay nailibing ko na ang mga bagay na iyon sa isipan ko. Tinanggap ko na ito. Tinanggap ko na ang pagputol ng linyang nakaugnay sa katauhan ko at sa mg bituin. I expect nothing from them anymore.

Everyone believed and so did I, that stars give the bond deserved to be felt by all. A powerful, unbreakable, and eternal bond of two... But the sea gave me her.

Every course of my voyage became for her. Every hymn I pray upon became for her. Ang bawat karagatan ay nagkaroon ng hangganan sa tuwing masisilayan ko siya. She makes me feel like I have reached the horizon. I have reached where she is. And the horizon was her hand.

But I never understood what we have. I don't know it. I haven't settled for it.

Hindi ako naniwala. Hindi ko ito tinanggap.

Hindi ko ito pinilit na maramdaman, hanggang sa unti-unti nang napawi na ito.

I never understood it... Not until I couldn't have her anymore.

Just like how the sun disappears at the end of the day, the wind fades at night, and how the waves flows away no matter how hard it collided with the ship.

She didn't last that long, too.

My distant horizon turned out to be impermanent, unreal, and forever out of reach.

I wish I knew, mermaid from Riverdel. I wish I knew that if voyaging with you could led to this, I wouldn't have listened to your voice. And pretend like I didn't hear any call from the sea.

***

ps. Enoch's flute music on the multimedia above.

-kimsyzygy