In the unknown fog that slowly churns, there are many things hidden. Forgotten knowledge, ruins of long gone civilizations and things that border on fantasy.
Michael, dressed in his Captain's clothes, a crested leather overcoat that reached just below his knees and worn pants. On his hip was a sword still sheathed. It had a slight curve on it. His hat was placed before his eyes to cover the glaring light of the morning sun.
"Are you ready? Starting from now, we are going to embark on a journey that will test our minds and what we know as truth." His voice rang throughout the whole ship. He saw as the dozen or so men who had volunteered nod at his words.
They started getting the ship ready for journey, they seemed enthusiastic about what they would find. Michael left them and went to his cabin, seating down he opened an intricate wooden box filled with carvings of fantastical creatures.
Inside were three objects; a small necklace, it had what seamed to be a coin coiled with it. There was also a brown bottle filled white liquid. The last object and probably the most important one was a small woolen parchment. It was died blue and had marks on it's edges, they looked like waves.
"Son, if you are reading this then that means, you are preparing to head into the fog. As a father and a husband I have failed but allow me this moment to redeem myself.
I headed towards the fog a long time ago and I can tell you that everything you can ever want and more is possible. When you enter you will feel something, like a beast is watching. This feeling will always be there, from what I know this is the gaze of chaos. The people here call it an eternal watcher. After you fully enter the fog you will feel something entering your body, it will be painful but you must endure, for those who can't will be used as fuel for the rest.
A mark will appear, this will be the proof of your existence. Don't ever give it up. I know not the trait you will be given or the gift that shall be blessed with but remember that everything is useful. My gift is Sun Remeberabce. The working of my gift are far beyond your comprehension so I won't bother to explain it but what you must know is to NEVER trust someone with a gift like mine.
That is all I can tell you and I have done everything I could to ensure that I can help you. From this moment on you are on your own, even if you feel that I haven't helped you just know that I have helped you enough."
Michael looked as the parchment slowly started burning itself before it filled the room with the smell of smoke. He sat for a few minutes going through the last and first letter his father had ever sent. He had abandoned his nobility, there wasn't anything he could accomplish in court for a mad king that, if all went as he though, would be dethroned by his advisor in a few months.
Looking out the only window of his cabin he saw the clear seas and only the sea birds were in his sight. He also heard the small laps of the waves against the wooden ship he had bought. It was classified as a war vessel for it's speed but due to the lack of firepower was abandoned for the faster and more dangerous vessels that had been developed.
He placed the necklace on his neck and waited. The silence was broken by a loud knock on his door. "Captain, may I come in?" A gruff voice sounded from the other end of the door. The door opened and on the other end stood a tall and we'll built man. His skin was bronze from all his time under the sun and was marked with scars on his arms. He had golden hair and the same color eyes. From what he knew, Kenny was once a prince who had survived the invasion of his kingdom during the War of Kings. He also had a tattoo of a skull inlaid with a compass.
"What may be the problem Kenny?" Michael asked to the man. Kenny closed the door behind him and walked towards a brown and used chair. Seeing a bottle of alcohol he took it before putting it to his lips. "I don't understand why you want to sell this ship. I mean, it's practically new and functions perfectly and what doesn't help is the practically free price you asked for." He took a swing at the bottle before puckering his lips, a smile forming on his lips.
Michael did not answer. Kenny looked back at him, his smile dying down. "What is on the other side of the fog? I've heard the stories but forgive me if I am not very convenienced." Kenny seemed to want to continue talking but stopped when a small paper was pushed towards him.
"The reason I want to get there, is simply because the king has sent me to look for the Elixir of Immortality. He knows that his time is almost up and the man doesn't want to give his throne towards any of his sons." Michael explained to Kenny, and it was true to some extent. The king had grown greatly paranoid of those he had surrounded himself with. Old age had finally opened his eyes to the vultures and snakes he had let into his court.
He knew that his sons had been groomed by the various factions to become puppets. All it had taken Michael was a few whispers and he was able to instill the idea of eternity in the kind of the old and dying king. He wasn't surprised when he was the only one who was ready to forgot the battle for the throne in search of a mythical and inexistent elixir.
You could be reading stolen content. Head to the original site for the genuine story.
As he read the letter and at the end saw the wax stamp of two dragons breathing fire at each other, Kenny was stumped. He looked back at Michael and was met with those grey eyes. "You don't think that it's real don't you. You know that what you are doing is treason." His voice was filled with disbelief. In all his years he hadn't seen a noble and someone who had a chance to become a king act this way.
He had heard of princes abandoning their birthright and princesses running away for love, but this was different. This man before him was almost assured of becoming king. He was the king's advisor, he was the puppet master of the whole kingdom. No one, not even the king held more power, greater military or personal strength than him, and he was abandoning it all for the fog. His mind went back to the infinitly long wall of grey that they were slowly approaching. He couldn't help but ask. "Is it really worth it? Is it worth your throne and all the power that would come with it?"
Micheal wasn't sure, that was the answer. He did t know if this is a sort of sick joke by the dying king or one of the many hyenas that were playing house with the king, but he had to take the chance. Even if it was a shot in the dark he wouldn't regret it. He had already tasted all that there was, and that moment he had read and dreamt of all the fantastical things that lied at the other end of the fog. He had felt alive, more alive than when he played with the high and mighty nobles.
He had already reached the pinnacle of martial abilities. He was approaching his second century walking the earth and for once in a long time, he had felt alive. The joy, the thrill and the wonder had all been resurrected. He felt his fingers inching towards the sword that had once bathed in blood knowing that it would no longer be a decoration. It would no longer be a reminder of what it was but it would become what it was meant to be once more.
He looked at the man once more and smiled. "Yes Kenny. It is worth everything I have given and even more." The answer was said with emotions he had thought were long dead. He closed the box, that only had the bottle.
Kenny was about to speak once more but another man came to call Michael. They both walked out and saw the fog. It seemed physical when one stood this close to it. Before the ship was a small island that seamed to be swallowed by the fog. It was only filled with sand and surrounded by calm water.
"Welcome to the end of the world, Your Highness." The island was named like that since it was the end of the world in this side of the fog, nothing close to it and in this dead zone, with no waves there wasn't any other island or animal. Kenny saw as a small smile formed on the man's face. He felt like laughing. The man that almost all people called a demon in living flesh was skilling like a kid and would be practically jumping up and down if it wasn't for the last shred of dignity he had.
"Well Kenny, this is it. The last time we shall see each other unless you choose to follow me into the fog. Don't die." He was preparing to jump from the ship when he turned back to Kenny with a small paper in his hand. Before Kenny could react the man jumped towards the island.
He stood at the edge and watched as the ship sailed away a bit faster than it should in calm waters. Kenny was seated, when he opened the paper. He saw a word that caused his body to flare an alarm. He didn't think before he jumped from the ship and as he was hitting the water he hears an explosion. He didn't stop swimming away from the ball of flames that had started sinking. The flame didn't stop burning even when it sunk.
Kenny swam for upwards of an hour, with the unnatural weight of the water pushing him down. He was close to the island that they had left Michael, he stared seeing tiny white dots in his vision. A hand shot inside the water and fished him out before showing him out into the sand.
Water forced out by air was expelled from his lungs and he went into a coughing fit. Michael just watched him silently. He waited until Kenny was in his legs before walking towards the fog. "What is wrong with you?"
The raspy voice of Kenny trailed behind him and seeing that Michael wasn't stoping trailed him before stopping him with a hand on his shoulder. "Hey, why would you blow up my ship? Do you know how long it would take for me to get out of this island?" This caused Michael to turn his head in confusion. Like an owl, slowly and his eyes also grew bigger before snapping back to how they were.
"You could wait for a ship to come here, or you could-"
His words were cut off by Kenny, "I am not following a mad man into his mad adventure. Do you even know what is on that other side? For all we know it would be a death sentence or nothing." His voice had grown a pitch or two. Michael stayed silent and after a few minutes waiting for the man to calm down.
"Those men, were the worst of the worst. Yes, in some part I did destroy your ship but on the other hand you would have been killed by those men the second you got them out of the dead zone. Let's be honest, you may be strong but you aren't me. You can't beat that many people, and not to forget that there was a martial king in that group." Kenny let out a loud and exaggerated smile. He looked back at the man, his hands running through his hair.
He looked at the man that he had known for more than five decades. He still had that arrogance from the first time that they had met. He had met a lot of talented people and they all had their own brand of arrogance but none like him.
Michael acted as if the whole world was open to him. He was never wrong and everything he did was justified in his twisted logic. To be fair, he knew his fault and tried to fix it as much as possible, this caused him to never say anything unless he had every single piece of information about that subject. This caused people to get the image that he was always in control and Kenny didn't see the wrong in his view.
He stayed there, stick on his thoughts before he looked at the fog. Silent, yet stood there like a beast waiting to consume all he was, his life, his being, his soul and even what he considered common sense. He saw the man standing close to him look at him. "What are you waiting for? Let's go already." Michael gave a small nod before he grabbed onto one of the arms of Kenny. Kenny saw blurs for a split second before he found himself before the silent wall.
When they reached d the fog, a silent second passed and doubts had already started to form in Kenny's mind. He was about to voice them, when he saw the fog light up. Like starts in the night. He watched with his jaw on the ground and before he could turn to see his companions reaction the wall moved and swallowed them both.
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