The Avallon Chronicles (BOOK I)

24 | Into the Unknown

Rei looked at the crow's nest only to find that Montgomery seemed to be struggling to find out what was happening outside the ship.

Of course! he thought. What am I thinking? Montgomery isn't trained to watch the ship with a thick fog accompanying the ocean.

"Rei?" he heard the captain call, spotting him just standing around like he didn't have any assignment to do. "Why didn't ye warn us that there were giant rocks in front of us?" the captain added in dismay.

"B-But, Captain, Montgomery said that he would be the lookout while I eat dinner," Rei explained in a nervous voice.

"I wonder why," the captain said sarcastically, followed by a smile on his face. "I entrusted ye to guide him because someday, nobody knows if ye will soon have a higher position in the ship."

"I-I'm so sorry that I left him, Captain," Rei spoke.

"Don't worry! After eating yer dinner, ye must go back to yer position. Is it clear?" the captain asked.

"Aye, Aye, Captain!" Rei answered.

"That's my lad," the captain grinned. "Now go eat yer dinner and finish it after we hit another giant rock."

Rei took a step away, but suddenly, he was interrupted by something.

"By the way, Captain," Rei asked before walking away, "Where are we heading anyways?"

Captain Severilo gave him a comforting smile. "To a place where no mortal had ever been, my lad," he whispered.

Rei felt the world around him stop for a few moments. His thought was suddenly filled with questions about certain things.

What does he mean? Where are we heading? he thought.

"Come on, lad," the captain spoke, "eat her dinner before it all disappears from the table."

"Aye, Sir," he added, snapping himself out of a wandering mind. He carried on towards the table filled with men wrestling the meat they had on their plates. Everyone were busy doing their things without even knowing where their true destination might be.

"Here ye go, lad!" one of the men said as he offered him a cup of rum.

"No, I- I don't drink rum," he replied.

"Well, yer lost!" the man grinned as he began to drink the rum that Rei rejected.

He went straight to the other young men who were feasting over a lump of meat and their special coconut juice.

"Eat up! You'll gonna like this dinner for tonight," one of the lads, who was a little younger than him, spoke.

"Thanks!"

After eating up and filling his stomach, he had to come back to his position. He was aware that he could not join the merriment at that time. Even though he was dear to the ship's captain, he still knew that he had his responsibility.

Rei once again climbed the ratline, going up towards the crow's nest after his delicious dinner was finally served.

"Well, how's dinner, eh?" Montgomery asked.

"It was... the best!" Rei replied.

"Told ya!" Montgomery spoke, grinning. "That was why I ate a lot before I came up here."

"Anyways," asked Rei curiously, "what happened earlier?"

Montgomery sighed, his gaze turning to his best friend. "I was... I was unable to speak at that time. It felt like I suddenly had a vision inside my mind," he stated.

"And what kind of vision is that?" Rei teased.

"No, Rei, you don't understand," Montgomery answered with his voice filled with anxiousness. "I saw that this voyage is not a good idea! I saw chaos, destruction... I saw death!"

Rei let out a laugh, unable to comprehend whether he would believe his friend or not. Besides, Monti had always been a person who liked to play tricks.

"Oh, come on, Monti!" he lilted. "I know that it's just one of your tricks! You are just trying to mess with my mind."

"I'm not playing tricks on you right now, Mister Rei Ambrioun. I am serious about what I just saw!" Montgomery protested.

He took the old telescope lying in the crow's nest and used it with the yearning that he would see the things along the horizon better and clearer.

It was all just fog together with the sudden darkening of the surroundings until suddenly, something made Rei's eyes widen. "Something strange is ahead!" he shouted.

Monti took the telescope from him, witnessing the end of the horizon. "This is what I was telling you, Rei!"

From that moment, he began to sense the fear that his dear friend was feeling. "A-Are you sure of what you saw?" he asked with a sense of dread in his voice.

"We're gaining speed," one of the pirates spoke.

"So be it," the captain nodded, facing what might happen to them.

"To stations!" The captain's first mate, Wren, shouted, making everyone scatter like rats. "All hands to stations!"

"Nay! We should let her go straight through the unknown!" the captain shouted to his crew. They all stopped their actions and ran right to the bow of the ship, looking curiously at where they would be heading.

"You've doomed us all," one of the captain's most trusted crew mates, Mister Lynn, called to Severilo.

"Don't ye trust yer captain, Mister Lynn?" he asked. "Sometimes ye have to get lost to find the greatest thing ye desire most."

Rei was about to comfort his best friend when suddenly, they were separated from each other due to a sudden shake of the ship.

"Go down, Rei! It's safer there!" Monti shouted.

Thinking quickly, Rei got down the crow's nest and went towards the others.

He climbed up towards the steering handle of the ship. He dug his feet into the floorboards.

He heard Monti let out a panic noise as his crewmen screamed, but he was nowhere to be seen.

"Hold on!" the captain's first mate shouted to the crew, tightening his grip on the railings.

The ship slowly reached the edge, tipping down and breaking into a fall. It attained a free-fall speed, gradually flipping upside down as it plunged into the abyss.