Chapter 61: Into the dark
Dante just finalized a few exchanges with the local merchants and returned to the ship, this was the day of the departure and the crew stocked the boat with as many goods as they could obtain. They were pretty content with the amount of jewels, rubies, obsidian, and other gemstones they could have with good deals. They took the direction of the maelstrom, followed this time by Tarim and Talim on his back.
In the sky, no less than a thousand dragons were watching them leaving. Roaring as a last goodbye. Even if it was not official, they all knew that the queen and the king would never return after tasting freedom, it would be impossible for them to come back to their previous lives.
Talim heard them and a tear dropped along her cheek, Tarim was suddenly very concerned and his voice resonated in her mind, "Do you really want this, sister?"
She patted his skin with one hand in front of the saddle she was attached to due to her weak body and dried her tears with the other hand.
"I am sure of us, we will have a new home and make new friends. We will explore many worlds and we will be happy," She said, trying to reassure herself.
At the approach of the maelstrom and when she saw the ship going straight inside she had a moment of panic. She started to shake, "Or maybe we should just go back, after all, this looks pretty dangerous!"
Tarim laughed and didn't allow her the time to hesitate more. He plunged inside the maelstrom with an incredible speed. Talim screamed in terror, feeling her heart was about to stop while Tarim was roaring louder, covering her cries. He was incredibly excited by this adventure and it showed.
"You can open your eyes, sister. Look," she heard in her mind as she was still shaking in fear and covering herself in a tense position on the saddle.
She slowly straightened up and she was blown away by the unreal view in front of her. The ship was not far from them but she was not able to tell if he was under, or in the top of them. Talim felt dizzy and Tarim mocked her kindly, "Don't vomit on me."
She shook her head and answered, "To vomit on you I would need to first know where is "on" and where is "under "."
He chuckled, she was not wrong. Tarim followed the ship without thinking much, he experienced the feeling of having no gravity, no weight, but magically could breathe without issues. His large powerful wings didn't need to move much for him to be able to fly behind the pirate ship. It was like floating on the surface of the water, without knowing where the surface was and where the limit was. Tarim enjoyed the experience of flying in such conditions but Talim was stunned by the view in front of her.
She saw a galaxy she had never seen before.
Dante entered his cabin and immediately started to write his report concerning the political tensions of the third world, he noted everything he learned in a very conscious and serious way. Soon, he heard noises outside that troubled him in his work and he decided to throw an eye on what was happening.
He didn't need to search hard to find his men playing poker with Jäwell, not hiding anymore his appearance under the face of a young lad. The prince was joyfully opening bottles and discovering the tastes of cigars while betting with the crew who started to be completely drunk. There was a heavy party going on here. Dante sighed at the view and Jäwell tapped the seat next to him. The captain didn't know if it was an invitation or a menace and decided to obey nicely.
The prince gave cards to Dante and there was an awkward moment when the captain had to play poker with his men. Surprisingly, the crew was happy to share this moment with him and Dante even found himself smiling. He didn't enjoy a nice time with them for so long that he didn't even remember when it was. The game went on and the ambiance was good. The prince knew how to be loved and accepted by his subjects, there was no doubt about it.
Dante could not stop himself, the curiosity was killing him. Since he discovered that Jäwell sneaked on the boat and after hearing his plan with Tarim, he wanted to know his exact intentions. He took a deep breath to gather his courage.
"Why did you convince a dragon to come with us?" He asked coldly as he was a bit stressed.
Jäwell laughed, "Only the strongest dragon can become me. You are the one who gave me the idea. You and Zarkhaïm."
"What idea?" Dante asked with a hint of fear seeing the sadistic and excited smile of Jäwell.
"You said that going to war with my powers would be boring, so I logically thought I needed to get rid of them. The only one capable of taking my force was Zuline but she was banished, so naturally, I thought about Zarkhaïm and how he gathered his powers in the ceiling of the ballroom in the dark castle."
Dante was stunned and a few men who had listened to the story were in a deep shock. Jäwell continued naturally, he was speaking in the same way as if he was talking about a plan to go to groceries.
"When I heard about the third world and their dragons, it reminded me of Clyss. He was capable of keeping the powers of Zarkhaïm, so logically, the strongest dragon of their world should be able to take mine. Isn't it brilliant?"
The captain saw the pride in Jäwell but he had to tell the truth, "This is the worst idea I ever heard in my life."
Jäwell frowned, "And why is that, Mister Crab's arm?" He taunted him as he was vexed.
"But because you are potentially going to kill a king you imported from another world only to serve you as a receptacle! You have no idea if it can work if it is even possible! How do you know Tarim will not just kill you and take your place? You are seriously going to turn yourself mortal just for fun?!"
But the prince didn't have the reaction Dante hoped to see. Jäwell just shrugged and smiled happily.
"It is fun. You are just jealous," He said, making everyone around laugh at the pirate. Dante was becoming red in anger, he was trying to inspire some reason in the prince but he only was losing credibility by doing it. He stood up and was about to go to his cabin to finish his report. He was fuming and groaning insults but Jäwell stopped him.
"We have to change the destination, I need us to stop to see the first world before coming back to Ombrae,'' ordered Jäwell.
Dante turned violet, not only did he lose his position but the prince was giving him direct orders and destinations to follow.
"And why are we going there? Another stupid plan of yours?" He gasped while gritting his teeth.
"I need to see the Jessadians. Zuline knows how to contact Leïlana in the tower, she is the only one powerful enough to know everything that happens in the shadows. I promised Talim I would make her immortal, for this I need Leïlana to transform her into one of our kin. Only Leïlana can pass the dark blood to her while respecting the rule of only one created per generation."
Suddenly, Dante felt his rage calming, he observed the prince and he had to admit that the look of compassion he had while staring at the sky in the direction of the little queen was touching. Jäwell would do everything to keep his promise and the idea to make them immortal to live together, free from their political duties was not sounding so bad.
Also, Dante had a bit of hope that Zuline would scold Jäwell and shake him enough hard to be able to convince him to stop his crazy plan before it was too late and before he would put them all in danger. If someone could have control over his mad ideas, it was her. It was in this condition that the captain accepted to follow Jäwell's order without complaining much.
Once again, he took his compass and placed it aiming for the first world. "Let's go to Zuline, then," He said with a long, tired, sigh. As he thought about the possibilities of finding an entrance to the first world to pass from the shadows to the light, they approached close enough to see the massive dark dome.
"What is that?" Asked Dante in surprise as he noticed the huge amount of darkness. It was almost like the world was rotten, a full part of it was lost in the dark. They didn't need a maelstrom or any kind of portal. A part of the world was already dead.
Jäwell patted his shoulder and smiled proudly, "Right, you were not here before the war against Archanium."
He then pointed at the dome of shadows, saying in a low powerful voice, "This is my pride, you see the power of the son I created with Zuline. This is the mark of Clyss."
Dante couldn't believe what he was hearing. He had a ball in the stomach as they were coming closer and closer. After the equivalent of seven days of travel in the void, in the deep of the galaxy, where there were no directions and no landmarks, the pirate was suddenly feeling lost and he whispered to himself, "We are falling into the dark."
Gifts
-- Gift
received Weekly Power Status
-- Power
Ranking 
-- Power
stone