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Chapter 17: The Longest Hour

About 20 minutes later, Nathan and Curstan were all loaded up and about to board their vessel. “That’s it!” Curstan said putting in the last of her things. Ashley and I ran out to shore to say our goodbyes. We hugged and wished them luck as they traveled across the water.

“Make sure your lightning is good and strong!” Nathan reminded Ashley as he boarded the vessel.

Sarah arrived on the scene to see them off, but there was no Tom to be found. At the time, it didn’t really worry me at all. “Ok now, you two get going, alright? Have a safe trip!” she called.

And with that, slowly yet surely, the ship drifted into the Moracian Strait. Team Neravien waved until we couldn’t see each other anymore. “Well, that’s something good at least, right Dy?” Ashley sighed. She was reminding me that we were stuck here for another hour and with Lamis at that.

Speaking of Lamis, they were just walking up; Melissa all bandaged up, as well as her partner, Tyler. “Where’s Kratias?” she wondered out loud.

“Gone. Just left. You missed them,” I went on.

“We get it!” Tyler snapped. He’s really not a people person, from what I’ve seen. Melissa, in my eyes, was truly nice person forced to cover it with Lamian arrogance.

Melissa smiled at me and said, “Oh, I wanted to thank Curstan for such a great fight!”

“I think she’d do the same if she were here, know her!” Ashley laughed hugging my arm. The salty sea air was cold and there was a strong breeze today as well. We then walked into the inn and to our rooms. Ashley and I looked at the map to plan our route with the time we had.

We figured that if we went northeast instead of the obvious straight north course, then we’d hit land a little sooner, bringing us just that much closer to the 2/3 mark. It was a good plan for the time being. The winds were strong and therefore pretty reliable as of late.

With that task out of the way, we could spend our time quite idly for now. Ashley sat in the mirror and brushed her hair, humming quietly as she did so. There was nothing for me to do. We couldn’t load the ship until it was time to go. I tried to think of something to do for the next 40 minutes. I wasn’t tired, or hungry, anything else but bored!

Finally, I had the idea to just to go back outside and stand in the water. I went farther out into the water than I did with Curstan; about knee deep. My feet stung a little, but the coldness of the waters numbed the pain. I walked up and down the beach, finding seashells and things of that nature along the way. I picked up little crabs and starfish, but let them go to continue their lives. Back up the beach, the two small ships with larger versions of our flags flapping in the breeze were waiting with infinite patience as inanimate objects should. And soon we’d sail away just as Kratias did not long ago.

Upon my return to the inn, I found that it was time to load up the aforementioned ships. There wasn’t much to load anyway besides our stuff. We’d also be learning basic sailing skills. The crew consisted of me, Ashley, the captain, and three other men. Finally, at 8:50 am, we were ready to go as was Lamis. We climbed aboard our ships and I leaned over the edge of the boat, seeing Sarah, and this time Tom was with her. The sun shined bright, giving Sarah a golden glow about her head. I looked out at the water to see its shimmering surface glowing with the sunlight as well.

“Ready?” Tom asked pulling out an air horn.

“So you’ve decided to show your face Tom! Yes sir!” I joked with a salute.

“All set!” Melissa shouted with a small wave.

“Then be on your way!” Sarah ordered. Tom then fired the air horn, and we immediately hoisted our anchors and were carried away by the winds and waves.