you?”
He glanced down at Kwin who, in direct contrast to her innocent and sweet
demeanor just minutes before, now appeared very irritated.
“ Kwinny ?” she asked in a quiet
voice.
“Oh, he said it first, I had to reply with something,” Alastor said
nonchalantly. “Plus, that really was good of you. Without that show, as painful
as it must have been to pull off, we might not have gotten this little clue.”
He took the book gently from Kwin, flipping carefully through the pages.
“Water damage seems to have messed with a lot of this, but we’ll see what
we can decipher later,” Alastor said, closing the book and handing it back to
Kwin. “That’s a job for tomorrow. For now, let’s focus on some distance.”
They stared ahead, looking at the blank sea before them, and Kai couldn’t
help but wonder what secrets were written in the journal. Whatever they were,
they belonged to a group of travelers that never returned – and with any luck,
would help save Kai and the others from that same fate.
Chapter 8: The End of the Ocean
W hen Kai arrived on the ship
the next night, the first thing he noticed was that it was dark. It wasn’t the
type of darkness that came in the absence of sunlight; and as he looked up, he
realized that the entire sky was covered with threatening black clouds.
The sea wasn’t as calm as it had been the previous night, either. The
water swelled and dipped, causing the ship to rock uncomfortably with it. It
wasn’t unbearable now, but it would be if it got much worse.
Thunder rolled in the distance as the others arrived shortly after, one
by one. They too looked around in surprise before walking over to Kai.
“This should get interesting,” Alastor commented. “With any luck, this
means the wind will be more powerful.”
“It looks like that may be the case,” Kwin said as she gazed at the sky.
“However, our journey will not be a comfortable one.”
“If any of you get seasick, you can always wake up and join us another
time,” Alastor told everyone.
“I may have to take you up on that,” Lindsay said nervously. “I love
storms; I just don’t like being in them.”
“You can always stay inside,” Kai suggested. “We’ll probably be looking
over that journal Kwin picked up yesterday.”
“I can do that!”
Kwin beckoned them to follow her. Elvia joined them, and they walked
through the glass doors to the kitchen. The room was comfortably lit, and now
that they weren’t looking at the rolling ocean, it was easier to bear the
movement. The table was covered with maps, papers and books. The journal they
received from Elkid sat apart from everything else.
“No one has to stay if they don’t wish to. I expect this to be a boring
process,” Kwin stated as she sat down at the head of the table. Elvia sat
nearby, but she turned in her seat to stare at the storm outside.
Kai and Lindsay took a seat on either side of Kwin, peering over to see
the journal. Kwin opened it gently, turning the delicate pages and attempting
to make out any of the words scrawled upon them.
As they continued, Kai eventually came to the conclusion that the journal
wasn’t going to help them very much. Nearly all of the writing near the
beginning of the journal was faded, and a few pages even seemed to be missing.
However, the closer they came to the middle of the journal, the clearer
and darker the writing became. Finally, after half an hour of searching, they
found an entry that they could read.
Kwin scanned the page, her eyes darting back and forth under her furrowed
brow as she struggled to make out the words. She read faster than they did, but
her expression told Kai they weren’t missing much.
“It appears this group of travelers passed the Shuski as well,” Kwin said
absently. “They were apparently the second group to pass the island. The first
did so decades before.”
“Weird,” Lindsay said. “So there’s a chance people have been doing this
for a long
He glanced down at Kwin who, in direct contrast to her innocent and sweet
demeanor just minutes before, now appeared very irritated.
“ Kwinny ?” she asked in a quiet
voice.
“Oh, he said it first, I had to reply with something,” Alastor said
nonchalantly. “Plus, that really was good of you. Without that show, as painful
as it must have been to pull off, we might not have gotten this little clue.”
He took the book gently from Kwin, flipping carefully through the pages.
“Water damage seems to have messed with a lot of this, but we’ll see what
we can decipher later,” Alastor said, closing the book and handing it back to
Kwin. “That’s a job for tomorrow. For now, let’s focus on some distance.”
They stared ahead, looking at the blank sea before them, and Kai couldn’t
help but wonder what secrets were written in the journal. Whatever they were,
they belonged to a group of travelers that never returned – and with any luck,
would help save Kai and the others from that same fate.
Chapter 8: The End of the Ocean
W hen Kai arrived on the ship
the next night, the first thing he noticed was that it was dark. It wasn’t the
type of darkness that came in the absence of sunlight; and as he looked up, he
realized that the entire sky was covered with threatening black clouds.
The sea wasn’t as calm as it had been the previous night, either. The
water swelled and dipped, causing the ship to rock uncomfortably with it. It
wasn’t unbearable now, but it would be if it got much worse.
Thunder rolled in the distance as the others arrived shortly after, one
by one. They too looked around in surprise before walking over to Kai.
“This should get interesting,” Alastor commented. “With any luck, this
means the wind will be more powerful.”
“It looks like that may be the case,” Kwin said as she gazed at the sky.
“However, our journey will not be a comfortable one.”
“If any of you get seasick, you can always wake up and join us another
time,” Alastor told everyone.
“I may have to take you up on that,” Lindsay said nervously. “I love
storms; I just don’t like being in them.”
“You can always stay inside,” Kai suggested. “We’ll probably be looking
over that journal Kwin picked up yesterday.”
“I can do that!”
Kwin beckoned them to follow her. Elvia joined them, and they walked
through the glass doors to the kitchen. The room was comfortably lit, and now
that they weren’t looking at the rolling ocean, it was easier to bear the
movement. The table was covered with maps, papers and books. The journal they
received from Elkid sat apart from everything else.
“No one has to stay if they don’t wish to. I expect this to be a boring
process,” Kwin stated as she sat down at the head of the table. Elvia sat
nearby, but she turned in her seat to stare at the storm outside.
Kai and Lindsay took a seat on either side of Kwin, peering over to see
the journal. Kwin opened it gently, turning the delicate pages and attempting
to make out any of the words scrawled upon them.
As they continued, Kai eventually came to the conclusion that the journal
wasn’t going to help them very much. Nearly all of the writing near the
beginning of the journal was faded, and a few pages even seemed to be missing.
However, the closer they came to the middle of the journal, the clearer
and darker the writing became. Finally, after half an hour of searching, they
found an entry that they could read.
Kwin scanned the page, her eyes darting back and forth under her furrowed
brow as she struggled to make out the words. She read faster than they did, but
her expression told Kai they weren’t missing much.
“It appears this group of travelers passed the Shuski as well,” Kwin said
absently. “They were apparently the second group to pass the island. The first
did so decades before.”
“Weird,” Lindsay said. “So there’s a chance people have been doing this
for a long
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