The ship was falling into darkness. The echoes of the sea and thunder grew more and more distant. As they screamed at the top of their lungs, trying to exorcise their fear, the crew watched the darkness swallow them, the gaping mouth of the chasm seeming to close behind them.
And already, the blackness was drowning them.
Their dizzying descent into the abyss continued, accompanied by the hysterical cries of the sailors—until those cries ceased when, before their blind eyes, the cavity came to life.
An unbelievable, surreal sight.
A sky-blue glow that grew steadily brighter, revealing the walls of the watery abyss. Eyes wide with shock, Wylgol, Sassa, Bory, Garr, Mathurin, and the dozen rowers beheld the towering walls of water surrounding them. It was a sight none of them had expected.
"Rotten fish guts!" Bory spat. "This can't be real!"
The turquoise water, growing ever more luminous, revealed the depths of the sea and its extraordinary creatures: fish with glowing teeth, translucent octopuses with twenty arms, swarms of giant piranhas with crimson scales, and strange species of dolphins whose fins bristled with sharp, jagged growths.
Mesmerized by these wonders, the crew momentarily forgot the deadly fall of their ship—until a massive shape, forming behind the walls of water, surged closer and violently snapped them back to reality.
Suddenly, an enormous fin slashed through the liquid wall and slammed into the ship's hull.
"AAAAHH!" they all screamed.
"What the hell is that now?" Wylgol shouted up to Mathurin.
The lookout craned his neck toward starboard and spotted the sinuous curves of the silhouette through the transparent azure wall. Mathurin's jaw dropped.
"Hey! Mathurin! What the hell was that?" Sassa shouted up to him.
"It's… it's…" he stammered. "It's a giant turtle."
"What?!" they all choked out, leaning over to catch a glimpse of the sea creature.
The turtle looked like a massive floating boulder, easily twice the size of the ship—then, just as suddenly, it vanished.
What is this place? That was the thought on everyone's mind. And just as quickly, the crew burst back into panicked shouts.
"Lurcard, you damn rotten fish!" Bory bellowed. "It's your fault we're gonna die!"
"Yeah, Lurcard!" Sassa chimed in. "You damn grunt!"
"Lurcard, get up here!" Wylgol yelled as the ship continued sinking into the endless pit.
Swaying with the ship's motion, the young man finally made it back on deck, with Allan close behind.
"Captain, I'm here!" he called.
The rest of the crew turned sharply toward the newcomers—and each one shot him a death glare.
"This isn't what we signed up for! I signed on for some blasted treasure, not to get killed!" Sassa snapped.
"Tell me, do you even hear yourself, girl?" Wylgol shot back. "Who said finding treasure was supposed to be a walk in the park?"
"Shut up, Wyl!" she snapped. "I know the difference between a calculated risk and a suicide mission."
"Oh really, is that so?" Wylgol said, placing his hands on his hips, smug. "Go on then—enlighten us…"
Wanting to end the argument between the sailor and the thief, given the situation, Lurcard tried to intervene. "Uh... listen..." "Hey! Enough!" Bory's voice rumbled. "Bunch of rotten fish, this isn't the time for your nonsense!" "Nonsense?" Sassa choked out, disgruntled. "Nonsense, you say, old man?!" "Yeah, exactly! You're bickering when we're about to die." "Well, that's exactly it! That's why I'm yelling: 'Cause we're going to die! I didn't sign up to die like this!" One of the rowers, raising his hand timidly, said, "Yeah, she's right. I never asked to die like this." And another added, "First of all, you're the ones who stole the boat." We were fine with our old masters." A third added: "Yeah, it was safer with the old ones." "Shut up, you good-for-nothings!" Sassa spat. "What are you complaining about? You're just rowing, don't show off!"
"Yeah, but you were the one who promised us we'd be free once we got our hands on that treasure," one of the rowers shot back.
"You see that? Told you," Wylgol declared. "The moment a woman steps on a ship, it all goes to hell!"
"Shut up, you bargain-bin captain!" Sassa snapped. "You call yourself a captain, but without me, you wouldn't even have a ship! You sure you wanna talk big, Captain?" she added with a mocking grin.
"Alright... alright," the navigator stammered, momentarily silenced. "But which one of you knows how to sail like I do, huh!? Go ahead—take the helm, be my guest!"
With that, Wylgol stepped aside, gesturing for Sassa to take the wheel. But everyone reacted at once:
"No! No, not her! You're the best! We don't want to die just yet!"
Flustered, the woman tried to shift the blame. "Okay, fine, maybe I suck at sailing—but everything that's happening is Lurcard's fault!" she said, pointing directly at him.
"She's right! Damn rotten fish! You should be the first to die—with all your lies about treasure! You led us straight to our deaths!"
"Yeah!" the rowers chanted in unison.
"No!" Allan stepped in, placing himself between Lurcard and the rest of the crew. "You've all got short memories, I swear!"
"What are you talking about, kid?!" Bory barked, offended.
"You've all forgotten that it's thanks to his knowledge that we got through the Great Winds, dodged the Icefall Cascades, and skirted the Giant Eagles' Nest!"
"So what?" the rowers replied with scornful tones.
"Without that information, we'd be dead already!" Allan said with conviction. "That proves he knows where the treasure is! I believe in him!"
Bory scoffed. "What is this, a love confession, kid?"
"Uh… guys?" came Mathurin's weak voice from above.
They all looked up at him. "What is it?"
"We… we're about to hit rocks!"