The Children of Nihon (BOOK TWO)

Chapter 21 - The Invisible Island

They sailed for two days, even during the night. And while Inaan might not really have been the greatest sea captain ever, he certainly was a master of his trade, since at times the waters were so shallow that the ground became visible beneath them. It was no wonder that there were only a few who could command the depths and shallows of the sea surrounding Illyah.

There were many invisible islands, Inaan explained to them. He knew of some, had even visited a few of them, but for the most part, their inhabitants preferred to keep themselves hidden no matter what.

"Nobody knows how many there are," he said. "Or how many people have found shelter on them or since when. It is said that those who fled during the Great Wars first created them, but there have been a few already before that. After all, even happy and peaceful societies have dissidents, or people who just want to live apart."

"Were there ever happy and peaceful times?" Sofia asked.

Inaan only smiled.

"Probably not."

The invisible islands, he told them, were created in a joint effort by their first settlers. That was how they came to be, and also how they remained in existence. For every newly arrived, the island was a reality that was not or barely questioned. Through their belief it became and stayed real. Yet, when an island was abandoned, it vanished after a while, dissolving into thin air as if it had never been. And since it had been invisible, its absence wasn't noticed.

"How do you know that?" Ami asked, troubled. He had a secret passion for maps, and after his sense of panic had subsided when they had flown on the Bayla's back, he had happily observed the landscape beneath them, and longed to do it again. The pattern of the surfaces beneath him had been like faces, their depictions in maps like masks. A disharmonious, asymmetrical mess, yet making perfect sense because of the way each part reacted to the others, because none would be the same without the others.

"The islands are invisible only to the eye," Inaan said. "But their absence itself is conspicuous, because you can feel them in the waters that surround them, and in the winds that are redirected because of them."

"How come you have visited some?"

"I asked for permission. I dropped anchor in their proximity. I waited and I talked to them, even though they didn't respond. A few times, after a while, they lifted the fog and let me see them, so that I could come ashore."

"And if they didn't?"

Inaan shrugged.

"Then I lost patience and sailed away."

Ami squinted over the waters, somehow disappointed that he couldn't see them. He wished he could fly on the Bayla. There must be something visible from the air. Or maybe there wasn't?

"Are they in danger?" he asked. "Or dangerous?"

"I doubt they are dangerous," Inaan said. "Though maybe some of them are, who knows. As to being in danger, I dare say many are. There is no place in Nihon that is so full of spies than the port of Illyah. It must be because of the islands, surely."

"So, someone was bound to pick us up there," Sofia said, suspiciously eying Inaan.

"And I was the one who did," he said, grinning as if he could read her thoughts.

"What happens when we reach the island?"

Inaan lifted his eyebrows in mock anticipation.

"You'll see that soon enough. Patience -"