They stopped at a dense forest adjacent to the beach, and on the other side of the forest was a huge castle with a big city. Rayeull’s family and one other family of a young man, woman and their little girl were to get off.

“I want to go to the city for the night!” Exclaimed Rayeull. His father exchanged looks with Frell.

“Ray, I’m sorry but we decided to camp out for tonight.”

“Oh… but why? Wouldn’t it be safer in the city? And warmer?”

“Well, we don’t want to be recognised. We’ve provided a lot of people with our service, and it’s risky.”

“Then why don’t we just go with the boat?”

“Same reason.”

“Oh, right. Well, I’ll go get my things then.” He said, slightly disappointed. "I've always wanted to go to the big place", he thought.

Rayeull was walking back down the ship stairs, nodding at the old man reading his book as he went for his stuff.

His family already had their stuff before they woke him.

There was a small sack of items. There was never much he had liked at home, it was mostly clothes, but he also grabbed his allowance money and a wooden knife with carvings he made, which he prized dearly.

He now had something else to add to that list, stuffing as much of the book as he could in the sack, the corner still peeking out, and tightening the sack closed with a piece of twine.

As they were about to climb off the ship, Blunderwell put his hand on Rayeull’s shoulder. “HEY!” Rayeull jumped.

Blunderwell continued, slowly and quietly. “Sorry. Hey, kid. I know I gave you this book, and, uh, I hope you can use it well, but it can be dangerous. Just make sure people don’t know about it, yeah?”

Rayeull nodded.

“I can’t really tell you right now, but I only hope to see you again soon. I know there is great potential in you, and I hope your family can come to see it too. Good luck.”

If you stumble upon this narrative on Amazon, be aware that it has been stolen from Royal Road. Please report it.

“Thank you. Nobody has ever believed in me before.” Rayeull replied, smiling at him with glossy eyes.

Blunderwell smiled back and patted him on the back. “Go on, kid. Stay safe.”

His family already went down the ladder, and Rayeull now followed. Their father led them as they waded through the shallow beach water onto the sand, and their boots squelched as they walked to dryer land. Rayeull looked back and waved at Blunderwell, and was met with a wave back.

They started off from the beach into the forest of deep and dark. And so, the deeper they went into the forest, the more they felt like they were getting stalked by a sinister ghost. Something was alarming their senses, maybe the pitch black where all you could see was reflections of moonlight in distant water, and nothing else, or the sounds of nothing that resounded itself through the forest, with the exceptions of their own footsteps, or a stick or some leaves being rustled in the distance. Rayeull almost felt like shouting just to fill the void, add some soul to the forest. But there was none. Everything seemed dead.

Their father stopped after some time, where there seemed to be a small opening to settle amongst the uneventful, but dense forest.

They began to set up. Frell and his father set up the tents, and lit a lantern inside. Rayeull dragged over a log to sit on. He sat on it with his father.

“You two can stay up, I’m going to bed.” said Frell, who headed inside one of the two small tents.

In the moment, Lolok looked over at his son, who was staring off into the forest, not with a look of fright, but wonder.

“Hey, what’s that book you got back there?” He questioned in a whisper, now peering over at the sack leaning against his son’s leg, half-smiling.

Rayeull looked down at it, then back up to meet Lolok’s gaze. “You wouldn’t like it.” His expression was that of hope at his father, despite his feeling of lifelong indignation.

“I’m sure it’s a great read, despite my liking of it or not.” His smile was now fully formed. “It looks- looks exciting!” He laughed, arms out as if ready to touch it.

Rayeull chuckled at his father’s surprising cheer. He reached over and his fingers lay on the book’s spine for a long second, hesitant to clamp down and pull it out into the world.

His father put his hand on his son’s shoulder. “It’s okay. I’ll try not to be harsh. I know I can be.”

As soon as Rayeull heard those words, his hand ripped the book out of the sack confidently, but him worrisome nonetheless. He held it out in front of his father, who slowly grabbed it.

Lolok’s face was feeling warm in the cold, the smile on his face dropped, but his expression didn’t drop to anger, he wasn’t upset, nor was there any other negative emotion. His expression was that of realisation.

He closed his eyes and sighed.

His son was sitting with anxiety filling his mind, heart, fingers and body. His father’s eyes still closed, but his mouth opened. “You know… I, eh, I always wanted to be a good dad. And I thought I was. The way I raised Frell… was not the way I should have raised you. He turned out loving our life, and I think that, my mistake was that I believed there was a formula for raising my kids.” He opened his eyes when a thought came across his mind, and a teardrop fell from his eye. “Your mother. I think she’s proud of you, for knowing yourself. And I’m sure as Mother Earth that she would scold me for raising you to not let you be yourself.” He smiled once again.

Before getting to look at his son, his arms were around him, embraced in a hug.