The Umatiloshe rang with the sound of tears as Captain Pathi pulled away from the docks. The Captain had little clue what was happening, but when Ervinos and Symeon showed up with the Royal twins, there was little point in asking questions. All he knew was that something had gone horribly wrong.
The ocean breeze rolled in, and the coastline began to fade. Captain Pathi kept his eyes fixed on the young ones. No change in their mood, they were huddled around a fire on board and the twins were still sobbing their eyes out. The Mukuru and Umpetha boys were doing a good job at presenting a strong front, but Pathi had seen those dead eyes before. He knew well of how soldiers dealt with agony, those two boys were hollow inside.
Nikolaos Ikona had never felt such a complicated set of feelings before. Growing up, he had always considered emotions and their display to be a very intentional thing, but now they had absolute dominion over him. Once the adrenaline had faded, all that remained was the swirl of a hundred thoughts. Was he too careless? Too secure in their control over the nobles? If he had either stayed in Thalassanqaba or set up a trustworthy set of eyes and ears on the ground, could this tragedy have been averted? How could he let his uncle play him for a fool? “I’m sorry, Mother.” he lamented, his voice barely comprehensible amidst a flow of meaningless wails.
Aikaterine Ikona had no such thoughts. For the first time in her memory, she had no thoughts at all. The images of her mother being surrounded by the Royal Guard were burned into her head forever, and she was replaying it again and again. When the thoughts eventually came, she cursed herself, knowing that she would remember every feeling from this day until the moment of her death. She knew enough about the nobles of Thalassanqaba to imagine what their rule would look like. Her heart trembled at the thought, the incompetence and lack of vision that was so characteristic of Imperial rule would creep into the nation she called home.
Symeon Umpetha’s heart was ruled not by sorrow or guilt, but by a single, overwhelming feeling - rage. Not towards Nobleman Prodos, who lied and betrayed his own family, selling his own country in exchange for a ceremonial throne. Not even the Imperial diplomats, who achieved the long held Imperial ambition of capturing Thalassanqaba using the most dishonourable method possible. All of his rage mounted on one figure in his mind - the one called Lightseeker Sullivan. What was it that made him so angry? The Lightseeker was an honourable fighter, and paid them more respect than an average Ikonan Royal Guard would. He was truly strong, bold too, enough to risk his life to achieve his mission. The Rihla worship side of him made no sense to Symeon, but it wasn’t the cause of this unending fury inside him. As his head pounded in his skull, he finally came to his answer: it was unfair. His father was every bit as bold as Sullivan, and stronger by far. Why was it so clear, then, that the two Umpetha would never meet again? What did the Lightseeker really have that his father lacked? His answer was clear.
Ervinos Mukuru… felt nothing.
“I’m sorry, young ones.” started the Captain, carefully, as he turned to Aikaterine. “My Princess. When you boarded, you said we should sail South. We’ve reached a point around 10 kilometres South of Thalassanqaba. Where exactly are we heading?”
Aikaterine gathered herself enough to snivel back a response. “I’m not sure. But we have to follow the star of Ræka until we reach land.”
“Child! The star of Ræka has led many a sailor to their deaths. None who have sailed it returned alive.” objected the Captain, who had heard of the fantastical stories of a secret treasure which could be found by following the South facing star.
“None of those sailors had the Umatiloshe.” argued the Crown Prince, “Captain Pathi. This is our only hope of saving the Kingdom from the Empire. We have to find them.”
“Find who?” opposed the Captain, more sternly this time after he realized how serious the royal twins were. “I was young once as well, you know. I’ve heard every story possible about the Star of Ræka and how there is a mountain of gold waiting for the one who can weather the storms in between. Do not throw our lives away by chasing fantasies.”
“It’s not treasure we’re chasing after. And these aren’t just stories, our mother read it to us from books taken from our personal library.” pleaded the boy. “The book itself is said to be written during the founding ages of Ikona.”
Nikolaos turned to Aikaterine, hoping that she could recite the story from memory for them, but his sister was clearly not in the state of mind to pull herself together for long enough. “The star of Ræka points to an island inhabited by magical beasts called the Axos.” abbreviated the prince, “They owe a huge debt to King Ikona I. They are our only hope!”
Captain Pathi still did not like it, but he was not planning on turning traitor after the night's events. He couldn’t argue with the fact that there was no safe harbour left in the Southern Continent for them. Instead, he turned to Ervinos, hoping that someone else could force the twins to see reason.
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“This is not a plan, Ervinos.” appealed the old man, “Surely you can think of some other way to fight the Empire.”
Ervinos said nothing. He didn’t turn, he didn’t blink. He felt nothing. The empty stare on his face told Captain Pathi all he needed to know.
“I guess we all die someday.” muttered the sailor under his breath. He sent the children below deck, and set course to follow the star of Ræka.
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The ship rattled fiercely, but held up well. Aikaterine could see out the window, it felt like the vast Ocean stared right back at her. A sudden jerk here or there would throw Nikolaos off his feet, but the sea sickness was what made the last couple of hours intolerable. He opened a porthole to avoid dirtying their quarters.
Ervinos and Symeon had come to their senses, amidst the sound of the sailors shouting orders on the deck, they finally sat down to understand their heading.
“This is a story of a lost time” started Aikaterine, reciting her mother's version exactly. “It starts with a boy.”
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In the beginning, the world was full of dangers and peril. It was a chaotic place, tribes would fall and tribes would rise with the season, bloodshed and havoc was the only constant. Faced with this fire, the boy responded with fire of his own. He bent the world to his will, and used the forces of nature to destroy his foes. But the world was a chaotic place, and when one foe fell, another would take his place. The boy became a man, and grew tired of fighting, he looked for a purpose, a meaning for his tribe beyond the chaos. And so his tribe ran, past the swamplands of the great river Mol and towards the end of the world, until they could run no more.
It was here, at the corner of the world, that he met the creatures of the swamp - the Axos. They were peaceful beasts, and lived unlike any tribe the man had seen so far. While the world he knew was full of destruction and fire, the Axos considered their entire kind to be one large tribe. They wrote songs for each other, built beautiful monuments in their underwater abodes, collected food for their weak and danced freely under the moonlight. When they met, the Axos greeted him with no reservation, they shared their land, shared their food, and considered his tribe part of their own. The beasts had no malice, and this impressed upon the man how his tribe might live differently.
But the world was no place for a beast so peaceful. Soon other tribes crossed the swamp, ones who would destroy the beasts with no regard for what they had built.
Just as they had shown him their ways, the man showed them his - he taught them to command nature, and gave them the power to destroy their own enemies.
The Axos and the man's tribe fought side by side, vanquishing foe after foe without rest for years. But the Axos felt like their songs no longer sounded as pure, that the moonlight seemed more dull in a world filled with such meaningless death. Just like the man had so many years ago, they too looked for a meaning beyond the chaos. They sought a place where man could not reach, that they might live forever in peace.
The two shared their land, but now had different goals. The man named himself King, and began laying the foundations of a home for his tribe, while the Axos explored the endless ocean in search of a new home. For years, the King seemed to be closer to his goal, the new kingdom of Ikona grew so large that emerging tribes began to join them rather than fight. The Axos, however, discovered that the ocean was a dangerous place, almost none of the Axos who went on expeditions ever returned to tell the tale.
One day, when the King was an old and dying man, a rare Axos expedition returned safely from the endless ocean. They kissed the dying man on his head, and thanked him for his patience, they declared that they had found a benevolent god who would take them to a new home, free from the chaos brought by man.
King Ikona I had nothing but joy in his heart on seeing the Axos’s wish come true. His only regret was that he would never see the land of peace himself, perhaps it was for the best.
But the Axos were as kind as they were peaceful. They pointed up to the sky and announced to the monarch - “The Axos and the Ikona are one and the same tribe. Any home of ours is always yours. If one day the gods of the ocean should allow you to visit, follow the path of Ræk-”
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A sudden violent crash interrupted Aikaterine and drew everyone's attention. Ervinos ran outside to confirm that the sounds of the ship shuddering and creaking weren’t just his imagination. Right as he stepped onto the deck, he experienced the storm that the sailors had been fighting, its strength humbling him immediately. The lightning streaking across the sky was a sole source of light, as the ship was buffeted around by the wind, throwing Ervinos into the mast. Across the Umatiloshe he saw a sailor get thrown overboard, and disappear immediately into the night.
“Stay below deck, boy.” came a scream from the captains wheel. Captain Pathi had tied his hands to the wheel, and was fighting against the ocean with all his might. “Something is hitting the ship from below” he screamed. “I don’t know how much longer I can control it.”
The Mukuru waited for a pause in the rumbling and dashed back into the cabin. He instructed his friends to hold on tight to something firm, and then starting tying his limbs to the central mast going through the room.
Before he could finish the knot, the ship was struck again, throwing him across the room. Ervin smashed into a barrel and fell to the ground, at first he felt dizzy, and then he felt nothing.
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Ervinos Mukuru opened his eyes and looked around. His head pulsated, as if it had been split in two. The cabin was nowhere to be seen, instead he was lying on a bed, inside a tent. The sun trickled through the netting, and the ocean breeze filled the air.
The young warrior stumbled out of his room with his hands on his head. As he walked out of the tent his eyes were assaulted by the sunlight, he flinched and took a few seconds to adjust. In front of him was the Umatiloshe, or at least what was left. It was too much to call that hunk of wood a ship, with only one mast still upright and several gaping holes on all sides, the vessel would not be floating again anytime soon.
“You’re finally awake.” came a voice from behind, as Ervinos felt someone pounce onto him and hug him with all their strength.
The Mukuru boy turned just in time to spot his princess diving into him, and as he fell into the sand, he spotted Symeon and Nikolaos with bandages standing right behind him.
“Glad to have you back, Ervinos.” greeted Captain Pathi. “Welcome to Ræka.”