The Avallon Chronicles (BOOK I)

41 | Escapists

From the dark waters, they saw a docked ship; there were a few destroyed parts but seemed to still be able to sail.

"Oh, no! What am I doing?" Sefira gasped. "I just can't leave them here. What shall I do?"

"Sefira," Cithara spoke, seeming to notice what was happening to her friend. "What's going on?"

"It's a long story. If you don't want to be part of this, you can ask that guard at the watchtower that you want to leave," Sefira spoke.

Knowing that what she was experiencing might just be the same as Sefira's, Cithara opened up her heart to her. "Whatever your problem is, I'm here to listen," she spoke before hearing Wil clearing his throat for attention. "Oh, I mean, WE are here to listen to you."

"Since we three will soon have more adventures with each other, we should probably stop hiding our worries," Wil added.

Sefira let out a long sigh, hoping that she could trust the strangers in front of her more than if they should trust her. "I'll tell you what's happening if you promise us all that you will not tell anyone about this," she spoke.

"Okay. We promise," the both of them spoke.

"Wait," one of the elders in the group said, "we just had a spy in our group that betrayed us all. Now you want to tell those two who we are?"

"Madame, we swear, we will never tell anyone about your secret," Wil replied. "We are here to help you," Cithara added.

"They are from the kingdom of Everdaile. One of them is the soon-to-be Emperor Wil," Sefira explained.

"Soon-to-be emperor," another member of the group spoke. "Do you think you can help us escape from this empire?"

"I will try my best," Wil answered.

"The whole imperial army was looking for the members of the resistance who were not complying with the emperor's order. They want to torture and even kill the members of that resistance called 'Free Men' and," Sefira stated, "I am one of the founders of that group."

"You? But... But you are one of the guards," said Cithara.

"I know," Sefira replied, "but he's overusing his powers, and he's ruining the beauty of Mithrin. Besides, he has already done enough damage to my family."

"Anyone has a solution for this?" Cithara asked.

Everyone in the group began to think and suggested the things that they could do. However, with the tension rising, they lose track of their time.

"I will not answer to you! You might just be leading us to a trap again, for us to be captured," one of the elders of the group exclaimed.

"I understand if you don't want to listen or trust me," Sefira spoke. "I just want you to survive, and I just want to help you!"

Wil's mind lighted up with an idea that might help them all. However, with what he was seeing and the fear that he might just ruin things, he was stuck with the question of whether he would say his ideas or just keep them to himself.

Finally, he knew what to do. He tugged Cithara's shoulder and whispered, "I have an idea." Wil drew a little something from the sand below him.

"What is it?" Cithara asked.

"For us to go to Everdaile without being noticed, we have to ride that ship," Wil spoke. "For us to make the guard not see us passing, you will use one of your gems to make him fall asleep temporarily."

"But the soldiers patrolling the air might see us. They might be heading here now," Cithara reminded. "Maybe they alerted the guards of Everdaile, too, so that we can be caught when they see us."

"That's why we have to hurry. Also, we need to sail that ship away from the port until they can not see us, and then after that, we sail straight to Everdaile for freedom," Wil answered. "Even though they alerted our guards, I still have a plan for the problem that will surely work so... don't worry!"

"You should tell them. We don't have much time, and your plan is the thing we need," Cithara reminded.

"Can you please just tell them yourself? Not that I'm scared to tell them, but I just want to... to be secretive about helping," Wil pleased, trying to hide his real emotions again.

Cithara gave him a grin. "You surely are fit to be emperor," she lilted.

As soon as they heard the plan, the crew didn't waste any more time. Cithara used one of her gems and made the guard fall asleep. After that, they all rode the ship that was docked between the borders.

"Does anyone know how to sail this thing?" Wil asked.

"Do we?" Sefira spoke, grinning. "If there's one thing you should know about Mithrians, especially the Aragonians, we are skilled in sailing."

And so, everyone was assigned to their stations. Even the children wanted to help by making the fires at the lanterns shine.

"Who will be the captain?" Sefira asked.

Before they could even answer, they were interrupted by one of the crew's reports. "We found someone inside the ship," he reported together with a young, curly-haired lady beside him.

"Who are you all? Are you those creatures that suddenly disappeared?" she asked.

"What is she talking about?" Sefira whispered to Cithara.

"I... I don't know," she whispered back.

"Young lady, we don't know what you are talking about, but we need to escape as soon as possible," Sefira notified.

"If you're not them, then you might be Immortals like me," the lady beamed. "H- Have you seen a strange-looking man, about five or six - feet high, out there?"

"No, we didn't," replied Sefira.

"Oh, no! What shall I do now?" the lady spoke desperately.

"If you want, you can sail with us towards Everdaile," Wil spoke.

"Alright," the lady sighed.

"Gisella, please take her to one of the rooms below deck," Sefira ordered.

"Aye!" the woman replied. Cithara followed the two with curiosities playing inside her mind again.

"You know; you can be the captain! You can be a great one!" Wil spoke.

"If you say so, then alright, I'll be the captain," Sefira replied. "But I should remind you, I am not as good as you know me."

"What do you mean?" asked Wil.

"Take the wheel! We are heading westbound!" Sefira ordered. "As the captain, I will be the one who is in charge of this group, and I don't want to see anyone fooling around! Now go to your stations and put your back to your jobs!"

The ship successfully moved once more. For just one more day, they will all be set free.

"Where's... Where's the ship's engineer?" Wil asked the nearest person beside him who was one of the lookouts.

"Who?" she asked. "The one who uses those gems?"

"Yes! Cithara," he replied.

"Well, I saw her walking below deck together with that strange woman that's probably a mermaid," the woman replied.

"How did you know that the strange lady is a mermaid?" he asked.

"Well, she has pearls all over her dress, and she has a perfect figure," the woman added. "Mermaids are known to take good care of themselves or else they will treat themselves as hideous creatures."

"Strange," Wil grinned.

"Mermaids, the creatures of beauty," the woman smirked.