Inside the small boat, there were no paddles, so they drifted aimlessly for two long days. During that time, no ship nor speck of land appeared on the endless horizon.
Lucian's injuries had mostly closed, but Anne and Eric were faring far worse. Their lips were cracked, their bodies trembling uncontrollably from dehydration, hunger, and sheer exhaustion. Thanks to the blood curse, Lucian knew he wouldn't die from hunger or thirst—but they were not so fortunate.
Anne leaned weakly against Lucian's shoulder at one end of the boat, her breaths shallow and ragged, each inhale scraping painfully through her parched throat. Eric sat slumped at the other end, facing them, his face gaunt and pale.
"Stay with me, Anne. Keep your eyes open."
fear creeping into Lucian's voice, for he knew if she closed her eyes now, they might never open again.
"We survived that damned island just to die out here at sea..." Eric rasped, his voice barely a whisper. He coughed, then added bitterly, "Also... what I don't get is how you're doing better than us, after the beating you took."
Lucian stared at him for a moment, then sighed.
"Stop talking. Conserve your energy."
But even as he said it, he knew the truth. If he didn't find a way to save them soon, both Anne and Eric would perish right before his eyes.
----
Suddenly, a loud thud rumbled across the sky, and a flock of birds flew overhead in chaotic swarms, fleeing as if from some unseen disaster. Yet even amidst the ominous omen, there was hope, where there were birds, there was land nearby.
Lucian gently patted Anne's cheek, trying to stir her from her stupor.
"Look….See the birds? That means land is close. Just hold on a little longer, we're almost there. Someplace with an unending supply of food and water so hold on a bit longer. "
Anne's eyes slowly opened, barely focusing, but she managed to follow where Lucian pointed, to the blurred silhouettes of the birds vanishing into the gray horizon.
But as always, fate was cruel.
The boat slowly began to tost and gain speed, Lucian shot up from his seat to see its cause. In the distance, he saw it, a monstrous wall of thick black clouds, the sea and sky merging into a single mass of dread. Lightning split the heavens like the branches of a dying world tree, illuminating glimpses of the nightmare ahead.
A storm and a terrible one at that.
Panic seized him. Lucian lunged to the side of the boat, plunging his arms into the freezing water, trying desperately to paddle them away from the storm's path. But it was a fool's errand—the boat was too small, too weak, and the currents were merciless.
They were being dragged toward doom.
And Lucian, for all his strength, could do nothing but watch as the storm swallowed the horizon.
----
Soon after, they were swallowed whole by the storm.
The rains fell in torrents, so heavy they felt like needles against the skin. The angry waves roared, tossing the tiny boat like a ragdoll. Lightning split the sky and struck the surface of the ocean all around them, sending sprays of boiling water into the air.
The boat groaned under the onslaught, tossing violently against nature's fury—but miraculously, it still held together, creaking but intact.
But things had gone from bad to worse.
Anne had stopped responding, her body slack and unmoving. Hypothermia had begun to set in, her body freezing from the relentless rain and seawater.
"Come here!" Lucian shouted at Eric over the roaring winds.
Eric painfully crawled over, Lucian pulled both Eric and Anne into one corner of the boat, forcing them into a tight huddle while he positioned himself on the other side, using his own body to shield them from the worst of the wind and rain.
The tattered rags clinging to Lucian's back provided no relief from the cold. His body shook violently, but he grit his teeth and held on, wrapping his arms around them, trying to give what little warmth he could.
They huddled together like that, enduring, as the storm raged on mercilessly.
Minutes felt like hours. Time lost all meaning.
And then, suddenly... everything began to calm.
The furious winds faded into a heavy silence, the ocean stilling beneath them.
Above, the dark clouds opened into a swirling cone of colors—gold, blue, green, white, and gray—all moving in a mesmerizing spiral around a central point. It was like staring into the heart of a living, breathing storm... yet there was a haunting beauty beyond the chaos.
They had made it. Against all odds, they had survived and drifted into the eye of the storm.
Lucian immediately released them, turning to check on Anne first.
"Anne!" he called, shaking her gently.
She groaned softly, her body stirring weakly.
Lucian exhaled sharply in relief. "Thank the gods... she's still breathing."
A stammering voice croaked beside him.
"i….I'm still breathing too... if anyone cares," Eric muttered, his lips cracked but curling into a faint smirk.
Lucian chuckled under his breath and looked at him.
"I'm glad you're alive too, Eric."
Eric blinked, clearly not expecting such sincerity. For a moment, his pale, gaunt face flushed with color, and he quickly turned his head away, pretending to stare off in the distance.
Anne's eyes opened slightly,she in that moment could only see Lucians silhouette.
"Sing me a song."
Lucian had never sang openly, he was never permitted to have hobbies before so he only knew a single shanty he heard the servants bellow on the estate. He hesitated but he knew this could be her last words spoken.
His finger began to tap against the bottom of the hollow wooden boat in a rhythmic fashion.
(BOOM BOOM tap, BOOM BOOM tap)
He cleared his throat and then….
"Down in the deep where no man goes,
There lies a beast that eats men's bones,
Many a pirate lost fingers and toes,
Down in the dark where the barnacles grow.
YEAHHHH, YEAHHHH, the siren sings tonight,
Their beauty lures men like a dream and drags them 'neath the tide,
YEAHHHH, YEAHHHH, the siren stalks the night,
Shrouded deep in sorcery, their true form gives a fright…."
Eric stared as if he was mesmerized
'Long hair,beautiful eyes,a handsome face,he's also warrior and now he can even sing. This bastard has it all.'
Anne didn't make a sound but her countenance seemed to have improved by Lucian's song.
This was it their last push to land.
Then in a trembling voice barely above a whisper.
"Guys… what is that?"
Lucian followed Eric's gaze to see what had caused him to panic again.
Many stories had been told of a cursed stretch of sea where no ship enters for those who enter, never return. This tale has been whispered among sailors and adventurers alike to instill fear and caution alike. The Devil's Pass.
A place of endless storms and ancient nightmares, where the ocean itself was said to give birth to monsters beyond human comprehension. This was where they were.
Lucian had faced countless beasts in the Duskwood forests fangs, claws, venom, and terror but none had ever made his heart freeze in his chest like this.
Risen from the abyss was a leviathan. A monstrous serpent, its body the size of a mountain. Plates of black, impenetrable scales lined its body like the armor of a god. Jagged, spear-like ridges ran down its enormous spine. Its teeth long as trees, sharp as spears glinted even in the storm's chaos.
Its eyes blazed like twin furnaces, and smoke rose from flaring nostrils with each slow, dreadful breath.
This nightmare fuel stared directly at Lucian.
Eric opened his mouth to scream, but Lucian clamped a firm hand over it, pressing down hard.
"Don't speak," Lucian whispered, voice deathly calm. "And don't move."
The leviathan loomed closer, regarding them with a strange, almost mocking curiosity as if to show that their life was in its hands (if it had hands I mean).
Then again the sea shifted violently.
Another monstrous surge rose around them dragging them into a wave that seemed to reach the sky. Another leviathan emerged from the deep like a mountain erupting from the sea floor.
The current snapped like a whip, beating and battering the tiny boat helplessly.
The sheer power of the serpent was far worse than anything the storm had brought.
Their boat buckled and strained under the chaos. Lucian gritted his teeth, wrapping his arms tightly around Anne's limp body, anchoring her to what little remained.
But then the first sharp, gut-wrenching sound reached his ears.
Crack.
The wood of their battered boat split violently, breaking into two ragged halves.
In that instant, Lucian and Eric locked eyes across the chaos.
No words needed to be said.
They both knew.
Lucian and Anne fell in, tumbling through the roaring surf his hand clung desperately to Anne's arm, hoisting her up and tossing her onto the remnants of the wreckage before he lost his grip.
The sea was a nightmare of cold, black fury, tearing him deeper.
Lucian fought with every ounce of strength he had left, kicking, and clawing toward the surface, but it was useless. The monstrous pull was too strong. The ice-cold sea pulled at him like greedy hands as he sank.
Yet down in the abyss, something stirred.
From the blackness, a massive, shadowy form took shape a creature even more grotesque than the serpents above. A colossal fish, bloated and ugly, its gaping maw wide enough to swallow a small ship whole.
Its mouth opened with a low, sucking roar, drawing everything toward it.
Lucian thrashed, but the pull was unstoppable. In the last moment before he was consumed, he saw pieces of shattered wood, seaweed, and fragments of the storm all dragged helplessly inward with him.
The creature swallowed him whole, and the ocean around him collapsed.