Journey to the Forgotten Island

Chapter 22 - Discovery

The clouds were still dark from the ash rising from the burnt forest. The river was still stained with the charred remains of trees and dead animals. Toma stood on his balcony in his underclothes watching the sky and the murky sea and shivered. Even in Solapailtea he had felt more at home than he did on this wretched island. Solapailtea was still the same land as the Duro Empire, the channel between the two landmasses so small that a strong swimmer could cross it in a day. The lines of communication were fast and messages only took a few days to reach Duro City by horse. But this island, the Island of Magoa, isolated in the middle of the ocean, the farthest outpost of the empire, was truly isolated. Here he felt as though he was slowly becoming one of the first men, becoming a savage, losing his civilisation. He could feel the primitive instinct for survival taking over.

No wonder the abandoned Vetustan settlers had lost their way. The island was like a piece of driftwood, bobbing aimlessly in a cruel and unfathomable ocean. There was nothing of the calming dry heat of the Duro Empire – even as summer approached the winds were still cold, the air humid and wet on the skin.

Now, the great mysterious forest that had mesmerised him was gone. It's overflowing growth, the tangles of fecundity, moss and vines, the stench of growth and rebirth, had turned into smoke and ash. The ghost of the forest haunted him with its deathly blackness. Charred animals, like black statues, were still washing up on the banks and beach every day. Perhaps he had been cursed in the Sola jungle – perhaps the glowing feeling he had felt before killing the warrior had been a curse. Or perhaps he had been cursed by the Magoan sorcerer who had perished in the fire. Had there even been a sorcerer or was he just a fabulation, invented by the villagers to pretend they had some secret source of power?

Toma did not know anything anymore. Getting through the forest had felt like a success but he was no closer to finding the resources that Esteban Busci was searching for, no closer to finding anything that could stop the settlement from going bankrupt. The island was expansive, and they had only manged to cross the forest – what else lay ahead of them? How long would it take for them to explore the whole island? He didn't know if he had the strength to carry on. But he was a leader, a captain, and if he gave up then chaos would reign. So far from the empire, people were losing their minds, their civility. The settlement was growing into a town – full of lost, exiled wandering people. These people were already lost – he could not allow them to become barbarians like the Vetustans. Nothing was sacred to these people that lived in his town. Life in the settlement was tougher and harsher than most had expected – even with food imports there was often not enough to stop the people going hungry. Every so often a wolf would attack the edge of the settlement and some poor child would be killed or simply disappear. The people were trapped, unable to leave the meagre protection of the wooden walls and unreliable soldiers. Their circumstances were in fact not so different from that of a becalmed ship. It was as if they had left a small boat and settle on a giant ship with mountains and forests.

Toma returned to the inside of his villa and sat at his desk by the fireplace. He wrote down his thoughts on a piece of paper, then asked for news of the empire and addressed the letter to Penso. He hesitated for a moment, looked around to make sure no attendants were watching and opened a hidden drawer, retrieving the letter with the codes given to him by Penso before his departure. Using the code, he asked Penso if he could make contact with Lila, the smuggler, or Silvia, to get news from his family.

'I see the Captain is not quite as prudish as when we first met,' Ximena said, entering the dining hall and looking at his exposed calves.

Toma said nothing and Ximena's amused eyes looked sad for a moment.

'Ami is here to see you,' she said. 'Go to him, Ami, he's by the fire.'

Ximena disappeared and Ami walked towards Toma with concern warping his eyebrows like old driftwood.