Chapter 89: Departure
One day before...
There was a camp situated in the middle of the forest, and based on its appearance, it seemed capable of accommodating up to three hundred members.
Tuk, tuk.
The sound of someone crafting something resonated throughout the calm forest. An elderly woman emerged from one of the camp hut and started moving toward the source of the noise.
After walking for a while, she arrived at a spot where dozens of men and women were collaborating to construct a boat. The boat was large enough to accommodate all three hundred members easily, and it appeared to be nearing completion. They were just making the final adjustments and tweaks to ensure everything was in order.
Upon noticing the elderly woman approaching, the man who appeared to be the captain respectfully bowed to her and said...
"Long live Goddess Selena."
"Long live Goddess Selena," the old lady repeated the praise. After inspecting the boat’s progress, the woman asked the man...
"Navi, how much longer do you think it will take before we are ready to sail in this boat?" the woman inquired.
"Just another one or two hours, and then we can load our belongings and set sail toward the island the priestess had seen in her vision," Navi replied after thinking for a second.
The elderly woman nodded with a pure smile, seemingly pleased with the progress.
Navi took a few breaths before speaking again...
"Elder, where is the priestess? I haven’t seen her in a while. Is she okay? She usually comes to check on our progress, but she hasn’t been here since this morning," Navi questioned with a hint of worry in his voice.
Hearing the question, the elderly woman pondered for a moment before responding, "You already know her situation, Navi, don’t you? After gaining those exclusive attributes, she often has visions of the future, and she had one this morning as well. She’s said she is organizing all that information before departing for the island."
The man nodded, fully understanding the situation. After talking with the elder for another minute or two, he returned to his work, while the old lady made her way back to the camp area.
Upon returning to the camp, she called for everyone to gather, as she had an announcement to make.
After a while everyone assembled together in an area, due to their surroundings being in a dense forest it was a somewhat cramped area but they managed to fit in somehow.
Observing that everyone was present, the elder made an announcement.
"Navi mentioned that the boat will be ready in another hour or two, so please go and pack all your belongings. We want to set sail as soon as possible." She paused for a moment before saying once again...
"Please make sure to pack some gifts for the island king as well."
After addressing some questions the tribal members had and bidding them farewell, she started making her way toward a specific hut. The hut itself appeared quite ordinary and clearly looked like something that had been made in a hury and for temporary use. However, the area surrounding the hut was remarkably clean—very clean.
The elderly woman entered the hut and discovered a young woman sitting in the lotus position, undisturbed by her presence. Without saying a word, the older woman went to a corner and waited patiently for the young one to finish whatever she was engaged in.
After a while, the young woman finished up her meditation. Once her meditation was complete, she didn’t immediately open her eyes. Instead, she reached for a white cloth that was lying in her lap.
The young woman took the cloth and wrapped it around her eyes. After securing it in place, she nodded in the direction from which she had heard the entrance of another person, indicating that she was now ready to listen and engage in conversation.
"Lyra, are you okay?" the elderly woman questioned, her tone filled with a touch of worry, as she observed the blindfolded priestess.
"Yes, Elder, thanks to the grace of our goddess, I am perfectly well," came the reply from the young woman, accompanied by a happy smile.
Without wasting her time the elder asked, "Navi said we could sail in one or two hours. Do you think this is the perfect time?"
"Yes, there is nothing wrong with that time frame. We could sail in that time frame..." She paused for a bit before saying once again, "...We have to face some monsters in the sea as well."
"Are the monsters manageable, or should we change the route?" the elder asked with a slightly worried expression. She wasn’t concerned that they had to fight the monsters, no they were already doing that.
Rather, she worried because this time the monster would attack during their journey. In that time frame, they would be on a boat, and only a few of their members were truly skilled in long-range combat, which could leave them vulnerable to monster attacks.
"Manageable," came the reply.
The old lady breathed a sigh of relief upon hearing the response.
***
Three hours later, all the preparations were complete, and the boat was ready to sail. All the tribe members carefully climbed aboard with their belongings. After counting and ensuring that everybody was on the boat, the captain began to sail it.
A wooden boat gently swaying on a tranquil ocean surrounded by nothing but water. The sun is setting, casting a warm orange glow on the water. As the night approached a group of three children, dressed in simple clothing, sat on the boat’s edge, looking over the disappearing sun.
"You know, my parents said that we’ll have a new home soon. I wonder what it will be like. There’s also a ruler in that place who’s going to be our king soon," said a girl who appeared to be around twelve years old, gazing at the sun.
A boy, slightly younger than her, leaned over the side and said, "Yeah, Lily, I also heard about it. I heard he’s really strong, even stronger than our Thala."
The youngest of them all, a little girl, said with a giggle, "I hope he’s nice and kind, not like the bad kings in the stories."
"That would be great, Mia. A kind king who cares about his people." Lily replied while smiling.
"I hope he’s brave and strong and can teach me how to fight," Sam said, envisioning himself as a knight wearing shining armor with a long spear in his hand.
"And maybe he’ll have a pet dragon! That would be so awesome!" Mia said while giggling.
Hearing Mia’s words Lily chuckles a bit and replies, "Well, as long as the dragon is friendly, Mia."
Before they could continue their conversation, their parents came and announced it was time to sleep. The trio walked over to their parents and settled down for the night. After a while, everyone on the boat had fallen asleep, leaving only a few guards on watch.
An eerie silence enveloped the boat as it sailed under the magnificent moonlight.
