The Harvest of Souls

CHAPTER 37

"Let's see if it works," he said, listening to the sounds of sirens outside the building.

Fernand pointed his right hand at the captain's cabin open door, and the Caravel began to move reasonably quickly across the room towards the wall full of windows. Fernand kept both hands steady, left on the cross and right pointing to the wall, as the Caravel slammed heavily against the building. Fernand thought for a moment that the entire structure of the ship would collapse against the rigidity of the walls, but the opposite happened: the walls were torn apart.

The caravel continued its course, knocking down a massive section of three of the room's four floors, then bending some of the trees on the sidewalk outside the museum. Once completely out of the building, the caravel gained altitude, rising almost vertically to fifty meters above the ground, enough not to bump into any of the surrounding buildings, but still very close to the ground and the roofs of the buildings.

"This shit could hold up to cannonballs; it's bewitched, it will easily destroy anything in its path," said Fernand, laughing with relief alone inside the cabin.

When the Soaring Caravels passed over the Museumsquartier, Fernand changed the direction of the tiller again, positioning the Caravel to the north. He risked releasing the cross, testing that the Caravel would not change its direction. Fortunately, the caravel kept heading north. 'Great,' he thought. Fernand then went to the back of the compartment, where a series of small windows gave a view of the city.

He watched the caravel float slowly through the city, passing over the Volksgarten. Fernand overlooked the Council Palace to his left, lit by white lights and a little ahead of the City Hall, built in a neo-gothic style, lit by yellow lights. Fernand looked to his right and enjoyed the view of Vindobona Cathedral. He started to realize how melancholic that sight was. That was the city he loved the most in the world, and he would probably never be able to return to it. A tear leaked from his eyes. He watched, scared, while part of the Hofburg complex was engulfed in flames that lit up the night while several firetrucks arrived. He wiped his face and went back to the tiller, and with a slight movement, he caused the Caravel to adjust its trajectory, heading northeast.

He began to wonder how long it would take for the Arkadian police to start sending drones to attack the Caravel. Fernand knew that once the ship was over water, its speed could increase drastically, but the Donau River was still three kilometers away. Given the speed of the Caravel, it would take another six minutes to fly over the river, so he began to hope that it worked.

As soon as the vessel began to approach the river, Fernand's anxiety began to increase. He looked at all the windows in all directions, trying to see if anything was coming. He then touched the tiller and started moving it slowly, making a broad curve and changing its path to the northwest. As soon as he perfectly aligned the Caravel with the River, Fernand felt the sudden acceleration and tried to balance himself as the Caravel increased its speed exponentially. He stared at the entire wooden structure and spoke to himself:

"Navegar é preciso viver não é preciso."

ASTURIAN ISLAND

11.01.8462 - 11:56 PM

Jean's feet lifted into the air, and the body began to move toward the main corridor of the East Wing on the first floor as if something invisible was pulling it. A trail of blood marked the place where the body passed. When Vaughan reached the first-floor landing, he saw the body being dragged through the Greater Atrium and turning right towards the East Wing side corridor. He ran down the hall, followed by the others. When he reached the Greater Atrium, Vaughan found the mortuary bag empty.

"Where is it?" Lélia asked, arriving soon after.

Vaughan went around the empty bag, the blood trail ending there. Everyone began to form a circle around the empty bag, the blood still liquid inside it. Vaughan knelt down and unzipped it starting to run his hand through Jean's blood inside the bag.