Chapter 6: Turning Traitor         Chapter 8: Landing at Taizel

   Chapter 7: Phantom Ship

   A few hours, we were in the middle of the great Western Bay of Grado, also known as the Falisean Sea. It was getting close to sunset; we would dock in the port of Taizel close to noon on the next morning.

   I was looking for Myrrh; she had been hard to find the last few days. I wondered if she’d been avoiding me, or if I was not paying enough attention to her. I resolved that I would hang out with her for the rest of this voyage, assuming Syrene had nothing important to say.

   At last, I caught up with the small indigo-haired girl near the bow, gazing far across the waves as if she would never grow tired of the ceaseless swells. There were clouds and fog ahead, shrouding the far-distant shore which would have just been visible otherwise, making it look like the ocean went on forever.

   “First time on the ocean, Myrrh?” I asked quietly, leaning on the rail beside her.

   She looked at me quickly, surprised, I think. “Yes… It’s so blue, so vast.”

   “It certainly is,” I replied cheerfully. “It’s my first time on a ship, too. It’s hard to appreciate just how big the sea is from land.”

   “I would never have guessed,” she answered, shyly. “You seem so calm…”

   I shrugged. “If I’m to properly lead us, I have to be somewhat stoic. You know?”

   She slumped over the rail and I wondered if it was something I said. “Ephraim…”

   I leaned towards her, wondering what she was going to say next. She had definitely been reclusive since we had set out with the army. ‘She must be lonely,’ I thought. We had been pretty close back when it was just me and my knights; I had chatted with her and encouraged her, and she had been hopeful and sweet as the child she appeared to be, even though I knew she was much older. Continue reading →