Fate and Destiny (The Fated Series, #2)

Ch. 70 - Branka - Mortala's Garden of Lost Souls

For five days I've been aboard the Bone Heart ship. Five days sailing on the surprisingly nice waves with nothing but the salt seasoned wind and the sound of the crew going about their duties. During the day they keep their ship sailing smoothly, a friendly sword challenge breaking out now and then to keep the crew entertained and rid of their anxiousness.

At night, the party begins. I was startled the first night when I awoke from my light slumber to shouts and the sound of something popping loudly. When I ran onto the deck, my power at the ready with two blades in my hands and prepared to summon more, I ended up finding the crew dancing and singing very vulgar songs, and instruments pulled from where their owners keep them tucked away in the day, and played loudly and wildly. Unlabeled bottles were being uncorked, hence the loud popping sounds, and they all went about their joyful and drunken happiness beneath the smiling eyes of their Captain who had a bottle of his own in his hand as he stood upon the quarter-deck. When I joined him, he offered me the bottle and I took a swig regretting the mouthful almost instantly. My throat burned with the substance so much that it had me coughing for five minutes.

"An immortal woman, befuddled by a pirate's greatest friend," he joked, laughing as I still tried to rid of the scorching aftertaste.

"What's all the grandeur for?" I asked him, my voice sounding just as scratchy as it felt.

He smiled widely at the sound of my struggle before answering, "We're pirates whose homes are the waves and whose lives are better for it. When those sails are lowered and filled with the wind, and the current of the sea mother's hand pulls us out towards its depths, we are freer than any other man or woman who sits upon the land. Most of us have lived on the sea our entire lives, and we feel at peace when the wind changes, but not for what those changes mean. There's a war on the horizon, little lass, and with war comes death and mourning. Us pirates, we run off of hearty times and good ale. Now is the time to celebrate and lose yourself in the happiness of others, as it may very well be your last."

I thought about his words and stood beside him watching as everyone laughed and sang, the quality of their voices ignored as it was their joy that mattered within the lyrics. It made me miss my own family back in Fernweh, but then I walked onto the deck and joined in on the fun. The crew welcomed me, pulling me into their unchoreographed dancing and always handing me a bottle to swig from.

The next morning I woke up passed out on one of the large, coiled spare ropes against the wall of the deck. My head was in splinters, the events of the night blurred and in pieces. The crew was already awake and working perfectly fine as if nothing happened. And then night fell once more, and they did it all again.

No one even makes a sound now as we drift along the forest-lined coast of the northern continent. There's no sign of human or other creature life within or behind the closely standing trees. We've been slowly stalking the coast since sunrise, the crew having left their duties to take up spots all along the starboard side to gaze at the unmapped land.

"We never sail so closely to this side of the world," the captain said earlier. "Legend has it that any ships that attempt to anchor are drowned by a monstrous creature."

"I'll mist onto the shore so you don't have to lay anchor." He nodded, staring at the coast as if waiting for said sea creature to wreck his ship.

We still stand on the Quarter deck's starboard side hours later, noon soon approaching. The crew raised the sails an hour ago, leaving us to glide upon the waves using the current that moves eastward. The captain found the current, though I don't know how, as he's been at my side the entire time and hasn't taken his eyes off the white sandy shore.

I've been stalling myself, trying to think of what direction I'd head in once I must into the unmapped land. I'll have to navigate by both the position and movement of the sun and the moon, and then remember the moon phases to mark how many days I travel in case I forget. I'll start here on the east coast, and move northwest toward what I'm assuming is the center of the continent, and hopefully, some kind of civilization. At this point, I wouldn't be surprised to find some mythical creature that makes no sense as to why its existence has been hidden and guarded by tales and legends that end in death and despair.