Chapter 13: Land in Sight

  Corin awoke the next morning with an uncanny feeling. He felt as if he had the best sleep of his life. No part of his body ached in the slightest, his mind was as clear and calm as could be, and he felt as if he had slept for a whole day straight.

  “My love, how are you?” Livia asked, noticing her husband awakening. She had not slept well. She could not help but continually look to Corin to see how he fared, but all through the night he slept without any sign of the slightest bother and with a big smile on his face.

  “I…feel great,” Corin responded, feeling quite perplexed himself.

  He remembered the ordeal he had endured, but somehow it did not seem to bother him. The encounter with Arandu might as well have been as much of an inconvenience as getting a piece of meat stuck between his teeth.

  “Corin, I don’t want to alarm you but we were so concerned about you yesterday. At first, I thought we had lost you. But when you came up, you were so…” Livia struggled to think of what to say.

  “Calm?” Corin replied, looking at his wife’s face. Unlike him, yesterday’s events weighed heavily on her mind.

  “Well, yes. That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but we don’t understand what happened. You were not clear about what happened with Arandu. All you said was that he was pulled into the depths,” Livia said.

  Her face searched for answers, hoping that now that he had rested Corin would be able to provide them.

  “Right, I did say that.” Corin said, he could see his wife’s face trying to understand what happened. “I know it’s frustrating to hear, and I’m sorry, but I don’t remember much honestly. One second, I was sure I was going to die. Arandu wrapped a tendril around me so tight that he began breaking bones in my body. I was moments away from dying,” Corin said.

  When Livia heard this, her gaze widened. She instantly examined Corin’s body, but nothing she could see indicated any injury. The only thing that indicated Corin had fallen into the water were his damp clothes.

  “Are you certain of this?” she asked, still confused. “There is no—”

  “I know how it looks, but it is the truth. I don’t know how, but it is as you see. There seems to be no sign of any injury on me. But I am sure I was near death. After that, it is not clear. I remember Arandu being surprised, but then Simeon dragged me to the ship, and then I was surrounded by all of you.”

  Livia was still concerned. Despite not seeing any injuries on her husband, she thought there must be something wrong. She could not explain what she saw.

  “I’m sorry,” Corin added seeing his wife’s concerned face.

  “No, there is no issue,” Livia said, trying her best to reassure him. “I’m the one who should be apologizing. I should be grateful you are here and well, but it is so hard to understand.”

  Livia’s worries, although present, did seem to alleviate.

  “I know it’s not what you wanted to hear, but I understand. I wish I could remember what happened,” Corin said.

  Livia smiled weakly at him. He put his head on hers.

  “There is only one conclusion I have arrived at, one possible explanation,” Corin added.

  Livia looked at him curiously. This might be the insight they had all missed, which might explain what had occurred.

  “Perhaps Arandu realized who he was dealing with and decided that an expeditious retreat was the best course of action,” Corin said with a stifled laugh. “He knew that within mere moments I would drop the facade and end him right then and there!”

  Livia shot Corin an icy stare. This only lasted for a short moment. She then rolled her eyes and could not help but laugh.

  This was the first time Corin had heard his wife laugh without reservation since their journey began. It always made him happy to make his wife laugh.

  “Oh, so now titans fear you?” Livia replied with a smile.

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  “I think that seems like the most likely explanation.” Corin grinned.

  She put her head on his shoulders. “Next time you give me a scare like that, it won’t be any titans you’ll have to be worried about.”

  “I know that beyond titans there is someone fiercer out there I have to worry about,” Corin replied.

  Livia nodded in response.

  The couple sat in silence enjoying each other’s company. In the face of all their challenges, they knew the one thing they could rely on was each other.

  “We’ll weather the storm,” Livia said.

  ***

  “Land ahead,” Simeon shouted from the deck.

  The couple stirred in response.

  “Come. Let’s go,” Corin said to Livia.

  The two of them went up and saw Simeon, Nanaua, and Zhi gazing out beyond the deck.

  Two of the three of smiled warmly at Corin, but Nanaua did not have any such reservations. Corin could see that she had questions and that she wanted answers.

  “Hello, Corin, it is—” Simeon began.

  “Who killed Arandu?” Nanaua interjected without hesitation.

  Zhi groaned out loud. “Dear, we talked about this. You need to be more tactful, and we agreed we would wait to ask him. We don’t even know how he is feeling.”

  “I need to know what we are dealing with!” Nanaua proclaimed. “If someone out there is targeting titans, then we ought to know who it is! Are they a friend? An enemy?”

  Nanaua, Zhi, and Simeon all looked at Corin.

  “He doesn’t know,” Livia said.

  The others looked disappointed upon hearing this.

  “I’m sorry. I really am,” Corin replied weakly.

  Nanaua shook her head and before she began questioning Corin, Zhi pulled her to the side and distracted her.

  Simeon went up to Corin.

  “My boy, seeing you among the living is more than I need,” Simeon said as he embraced Corin.

  The ape-man gave Corin a crushing hug. It was as if Arandu was once again squeezing the life out of Corin, but Corin did not mind. He reciprocated.

  “Thanks, Simeon, I am glad to see you as well,” Corin said.

  “Now don’t ever scare me like that again!” Simeon warned.

  “I already warned him,” Livia interjected.

  Simeon looked in Livia’s direction. “Good!”

  Simeon and Livia moved to the bow of the ship. Corin followed. They stared out in front of them to the small speck of land that loomed in the horizon.

  “Is that it?” Corin asked in a low voice.

  “Aye, that’s Khorsor," Simeon replied.

  Even though it was far from view and he could barely distinguish anything at this distance, Corin was in awe of it. Khorsor, a place that to him only existed in stories, was now within sight. It was something he never thought he would ever see. Corin had met thousands of furtives through his entire life in Trinixo and, aside from Simeon, had never met anyone else who had ever stepped foot or even seen Khorsor. But now it was in front of him, and he was on the verge of setting foot on it.

  “Before we disembark, I think there are some things that are worth mentioning,” Simeon began. “There are lots of different people on Khorsor. A lot more than what you might see back in your floating temples or islands like Trinixo. I want you to know that you’ll see some, um, unique things. So don’t be surprised.”

  “Are we expecting to be attacked?” Nanaua asked.

  “I wouldn’t be surprised if we were. There could be bandits. They’re not too common, but it is still a possibility. That’s not to say there aren’t trustworthy furtives on Khorsor. The majority of people are like those on Trinixo, but you need to be on your guard," Simeon replied.

  “But that is not all. The people on the continent have seen many things. Dragoors won’t surprise them, but a magic wielding furtive will,” Simeon said as he looked at Zhi.

  “I understand. I’ll keep the magic to a minimum,” Zhi said in a disappointed voice.

  “I’m sorry, lass. It has to be that way. We know Tonatiuh’s forces are on the lookout for us, maybe even Arandu’s. Who knows what happened to him? But we need to make sure we don’t give a clear signal of where we are. We need to keep a low profile,” Simeon also looked at Livia.

  “What?” Livia asked.

  “We need to be careful with your inventions. Those are the kinds of things that will attract attention,” Simeon said.

  “Sure,” Livia finally replied in a cold tone.

  After hearing Simeon, the group dispersed. Although still a distance away from Khorsor, they were all eager to leave the ship.

  As they all went their separate ways, Corin approached Simeon. “You don’t actually think we will have problems with the people on Khorsor, do you?” Corin asked with a grin.

  “Is that a serious question?” Simeon shot back with a concerned look.

  “You make it sound like you expect us to land and instantly start getting into trouble. You don’t really think that’s going to happen, do you?” Corin asked.

  “Oh, my boy, I don’t think it’s going to happen. I know it is,” Simeon said as he laughed and walked away from Corin.

  ***

  Late in the day, the ship reached the shores of Khorsor. They reached a cove with a wide sandy beachfront surrounded by lush green trees. As far as the horizon stretched, all that could be seen was lush foliage. The group had been waiting for this moment for days. As soon as the ship anchored, Simeon was the first to get off.

  He eagerly jumped into the shallow water and hopped onto the sandy shore. As soon as his feet touched the dry sand, he stood in silence, admiring the land ahead of them.

  Nanaua followed, carrying both her and Zhi’s supplies. She was glad to be away from the ship and to finally land in a place with solid footing. The first thing she did was take her pike out and swing it from side to side. The delicate nature of the ship made it so that even when she practiced with her pike, she had to be careful of her movements. On land, she was not bound by these reservations. The momentous occasion of stepping onto Khorsor for the first time did not seem to excite her as much as the chance to finally wield her trusted pike once again.

  Zhi followed her closely. She slowly walked up the beach, taking in her surroundings. She stayed in ankle deep water for several seconds.

  “Is something the matter?” Simeon asked.

  Zhi did not reply.

  “My love, is everything okay?” Nanaua asked.

  Zhi finally understood she was being spoken to.

  “It’s… I don’t know when is the next time I will get to experience the sea. It has such a unique character, and I wanted to be sure I could remember it.” She finally stepped on land.

  Livia followed, eager to get on dry land, but she hesitated as she approached the shore. After several moments, she left the water behind. Zhi embraced Livia in a tight hug as she stepped onto the shore, as if welcoming her from a journey that she herself had not just endured.

  Now it was Corin’s turn. He gingerly went down the side of the ship carrying his supplies and waded into the water. It was much cooler than the water he was used to in Trinixo. This surprised him. For some reason, he thought that all sea water would be warm.

  He looked back at the sea steeds that had brought them here. They reminded him of the deer on land, but with no fur and with musclebound bodies. The underwater creatures, without which the group would not have made it, seemed to understand their duty was done, and they turned around moving the ship away from Corin.

  “Thanks,” Corin softly muttered to them.

  He turned toward the land. The vast land of Khorsor now was before him. No longer a land that only existed in his imagination but an actual place.

  Corin grabbed his pendant. I made it here, Cyril.

  He waded through the water, slowly inching closer to dry land. As he did so, a familiar voice in his head spoke.

  “We did it Corin. We made it here.” His brother’s voice spoke to him.

  You’re right, Cyril.

  Corin had but one step left to take to be on land. He looked back at the sea. Somewhere far into the horizon was all he knew, all his memories, and his entire life. He turned around.

  The future, what his life would encompass, was ahead. He raised his foot.