Book III: Chapter 5 | Mare Nostrum

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack.

By now, the familiar hum of the wheels of the boat clacking against the rail had become almost hypnotic.

They were quickly moving through the forest thanks to the changes in their formation; they didn't seem to have any further problems with the Creatures.

Pampanianos makes honest notes, as much too.

Pliny jokes, "Did you ever expect to be able to sail on land?"

Commander Pliny acknowledges the joke and smiles, but he looks forward.

He seems to be more interested in speaking with Barbara at the moment.

He asks her, "Are you sure that what you're saying is correct?"

And she nods and says, "Yes."

Pliny seems to be concerned about something.

Up ahead, the fort is no longer just the dark expanse of the forest.

One can begin to see the tiniest glimmer of sunlight poking out through the forest at the end of the long stretch.

The horizon of endless forest was beginning to break up.

The elves point to each other, point out in front of them, all beginning to be excited that they're finally reaching the end.

The Blemmyae monsters continue to push on, their presence all but ignored now, save for Alexander, who paces back and forth looking at them in disgust.

Castra, at the bottom of the deck, is trying to hobble towards the bow so that she can see as well.

Pliny stops her and tells her,

"No, not with that ankle.

If you want to be able to walk again, you need to lay down.

I do not want to see you above deck for the rest of the day."

Castra, whines and protests.

“Pliny I want to help.”

“Above deck, you are a liability. If you wish to help, ensure all the ration supplies are water tight.”

“Can I help you down the stares, Castra?”

“Im not an old lady, Barbara.”

Castra grumbles and scoots back down below decks, holding onto the rail with both hands.

Clack, clack, clack, clack, clack. clackclack, clackclack, clackclack

“Alexander, Barbara a word.”

Pliny walks to the stairs leading to the Command Deck of the ship. The elves dont notice, happily chatting among each other.

The reach the top of the steps and stand on the deck, watching the long expanse they traveled stretch out behind them.

Alexander, seemed almost hopeful for a problem, as if looking for anything to get his mind off the death of his horse,

"What's the issue?"

“I just spoke with Barbara about the remaining leg of this journey. We may be moving too quickly.”

Alexander looks surprised, almost amused.

"Why would it be a problem if we're moving too quickly?

The faster we get off of this damned Island, the better."

The bearded man furrowed his brow, irritation got the better of him and he pointed at Alexander in accusation.

“You don’t understand, because you are not a sailor. You are a child.”,

"This ship is not invincible, and water is not soft.”

Barbara added in her bit, hoping to try to explain the problem more gently.

“Alexander, The Path towards the beach is a downhill slope.”

If we move too quickly, we could crash against the waterline too fast, it could break or capsize.”

Alexander turned around, noticed how the horizon seemed to dip, slowly, but a ship of this size would pick up momentum quickly.

“We've made it too far to make a shipwreck before we even sail off. What do we do, Pliny?"

Barbara’s stomach turns a bit as she feels the ship begin to move faster. Nervous laughter emerges from some of the Elves.

“We’re here." and the ship starts moving faster, almost too fast, to the point where the Blemmyae are running to try to catch up to the ship.

The horizon starts to move faster and faster, getting closer and closer.

The light at the edge of the strip grows larger.

They may be breaking out of the tree line soon.

Pompanianus rushes down and begins barking orders at the elves.

The remaining three start proposing ideas.

"Perhaps we cut down logs ahead of the ship to slow it down."

Immediately dismissed.

“Get everything below decks!”

"Takes too long, too risky for the ship."

Alexander suggests, "What if we use the Blemmyae as brakes?

Place them up in front of the bow again, see if we can get them to slow down the ship."

“Arachne, Marcus, we need to strap things down, now!”

"That's the same problem as the logs.”

“The Ship is outrunning them! We are going to fast!”

“I can fly in front and use ropes to catch the ship.”

Pliny points to the passing waves for treetops as they rush by,

“We are passing your markers every 2 Minutes, by the time you land, you will already be behind us.”

They seem to be hitting a new yellow or black zone.

Alexander turns to Pliny, the elves are still scrambling to prepare the ship.

“Your advice, Pliny?”

Pliny looks up and points.

"Unfurl the sails."

Barbara and Alexander are confused.

"I thought the sail is supposed to push the ship."

And Pliny says, "Yes, that's normally true, but right now, we've essentially created a headwind for ourselves.

Barbara understands. “So what would normally be a boost for us will be a brake.”

Pliny nods, Barbara looks up to the mast, the clack clack of the cart was becoming clicks and the ship began to warble on its suspension.

“Aeneas with me! We are going to the Mast!”

“Unfurl the sail at half-mast and be very careful, Barbara."

So Barbara and Aeneas, her fellow fly-mate, both race up the mast and, holding their balance, begin to unfurl the sail.

Alexander orders Pollux, Regulus, and Marcus to assist.

They are tugging at the cords, unfurling the sail, but only at halfway.

They don't want to go too quickly with the sail, lest they risk breaking the mast.

Pliny shouts at them, "Don't unfurl too quickly!

You could break the mast or lose the sail!"

So they begin to slowly unfurl the sail.

There is a bump. The Ship swivels on its suspension.

Barbara almost loses her balance, but is able to catch the bottom of the mast and climbs back up.

They continue to unfurl the sail slowly; the ship is losing speed, but the bumps are causing some of the elves to fall over.

They've now passed the tree line and they can see the shore ahead.

The Blemmyae have all but abandoned following along and look on from the forest as if they were waving goodbye.

They can see the shore coming up.

Pliny screams at them, "Brace for impact!

Prepare!

Everyone hold on to something!"

Barbara and Aeneas grasp onto the mast.

Everyone else holds on to a railing.

Goats below tries to get below deck unsuccessfully as the ship crashes into the shore, into the ocean.

The shock pushes some of the sailors back.

The spray and water that begins to flood the upper deck puts out the torches that are at the front and side of the ship.

Three elves fall off and fall onto the shoreline, including Barbara herself.

When the shock stops, everyone rises up from their bracing positions and looks around.

They see that the ship is floating on the coast.

Pampanianos orders Marcus to go below deck and to make sure that there's no water damage.

Marcus goes immediately down.

Pampanianos and Pliny go around the bow of the ship, looking to see if everyone's all right or if anyone's hurt.

They see the elves on the port side who have fallen off, and Aeneas and Pollux grab ropes to try to help them get back on the ship.

Pollux in particular jumps off the ship in order to swim and protect and rescue the crew mates.

Meanwhile, the rest of the elves are staring in wonder at the ship being in the middle of the sea.

Pampanianos, though, refuses to relax until he hears from his son.

His son comes from above deck.

The bow is fine.

There's no damage.

Alexander, who's in earshot of this, cries out loud that they did it, and the elves all cheer.

Castra, once again, hobbles up off of the ship, up deck.

Pliny says, "I asked you to remain below deck."

And ignores him, and walks towards Pompanianus, who grabs her hands to help her walk.

And so she stands.

As she looks around, she says, "I've never seen the sky this large before."

Alexander is looking out as well.

Castra goes to try to embrace Alexander again, and Alexander notices Barbara off in the distance on the starboard side in the water.

Barbara's swimming towards the ship, and Alexander crouches down to help her get back on.

But to his surprise, Barbara pulls him down with her, and the two play-fight in the water, laughing.

"Captain overboard!"

she shouts, giggling.

Many of the excited elves also start jumping into the water, leaving Pliny, Pampanianos, and Castra stuck on the ship.

Pliny is irritated, saying that they still have much to do.

They have to disassemble the brace, and they have to begin sailing and find a campsite for the night.

And Pampanianos puts his hand on the shoulder of his friend and says that they will have time to do that.

"Let them enjoy their first day in the open sky."