chapter 7: sea of the dead

"Welcome." Leax said with a broad smile as they got to the beach where a large ship sat with thousands of people going on broad. Most of them injured missing a limb or two.

It was so awful children crying, missing a parent or both.

He felt sick seeing so many people trying to escape to the next city.

Xorn sighed in relief as he saw her, but cringed when he saw the blood on her outfit.

A creepy blood thirsty smile on her lips, he instinctively held on to Diors hand and Dior clutched his hand as well. "Hi Xorn where have you been?"

"Who is she?" Dior asked, whispering only to Xorn's hearing.

"Someone who will help us," he assured lightly caressing her palm.

He saw the flicker of doubt in her eyes, then cupped her face with his hands. "I know you're confused and you have a lot of questions, but I promise I'm going to explain everything to you," he assured her.

She gave him a weak smile. "Okay. " He kissed her, holding her in his arms for a while. He was so glad she was okay.

He inhaled her scent. She was here, and that's all that mattered.

Turning, he saw Leax standing and staring at them intensely. "What?" he asked, slightly startled.

Leax shook her head. "Nothing. Get on the boat, don't speak to anyone, do not speak to strangers. Do not lower your guard and do not, I repeat, do not answer questions."

This was the first time he saw he her seriously, most of the time she was always smiling. "Got it?"

He nodded, and she walked towards the ship.

"Damn, I need to shower." She muttered, sniffing herself.

The ship was warm and cozy. He and Dior settled for a small room they found on the ship. Most of the rooms were packed with people.

They all needed first aid, which again reminded Xorn of how lucky they were. He made sure Josh settled in a comfortable room.

The ship set sail. He did not know where they headed he watched land disappear from the window of his room.

Dior lay in the small bed in the even smaller bed, folding in a ball. "I don't feel so good" Dior winced, running to the nearest window and hunching over it, she hurled.

She was seasick, she rarely traveled on anybody of water.

He couldn't believe he forgot.

Someone knocked on the door, and he opened it to see Leax by the door, freshly washed, wearing a thin nightgown.

Her hair is still dripping wet and her feet are bare.

A tray of food in her hands. "I got you guys something to eat."

His stomach rumbled at the sight of the meal. "Fish soup?" he questioned

"It's all we got on the ship, since we didn't have time to gather supplies for an apocalypse." She chuckled.

"Is she okay?" she asked, seeing Dior throw up from the window into the ocean.

Xorn sighed, "She's seas sick."

Leax pouted, searching her pocket. "Found these in the drawer. " She handed him a packet of medication.

His heart swelled with joy. "I really appreciate it." he ran to Dior helping her with water and the medication.

"I would appreciate it if my best friend and my parents got some food too," he pleaded as he held Dior to him in a loose hug.

Leax smiled. "So caring. They've already gone up to eat. They served dinner about an hour ago."

He smiled softly. "She's not been well since we boarded, I hope she can it eat something."

"I understand." Leax said, watching him closely as he caressed Diors hair.

"Where are we heading?" he asked.

Leax leaned on the door frame. "Another realm. The earth sect."

He paused. "Wait like we are leaving earth?"

She nodded in response. "The Mortal realm isn't safe anymore for humans."

"Do the people on this ship know where they are going?" Xorn asked curiously.

"No. They just know I'm taking them somewhere safe.

The human mind can't comprehend the existence of something out of the natural." She said with a shrug.

Xorn frowned. "But they have a right to know."

Leax smirked.

"You go up and tell them I'm taking them to another realm. Where mages who are not humans but fairies live and see if they clap for you."

She had a point.

Nothing he would say would make sense.

"What's going to happen to us?" He asked saddened by crystalized reality.

She stretched, hanging upside down again, her blonde hair sweeping the ground.

"We will cannot protect the humans and Lex Acron will enslave all the humans." She said passively.

Xorn caught his breath, squeezing Dior unconsciously. "We can't let that happen!"

"It's already been prophesied. Everything will turn to dust and ash. Humans will need heros and we are those heros but without you, Xorn we are powerless."

"I'm no hero. I'm just a guy who wants to live a normal life on a farm with the love of his life," he argued.

He clenched his fist, his fingers digging into his skin. "Sleep on it." Leax sighed, closing the door behind her.

-------

They've been traveling for five days.

There was no sign of land yet.

They ran out of food. They had passed fresh water two days ago.

The massive sea was all salt water. They were thirsty.

The food wasn't enough, and soon quarrels broke out between the people on the ship.

Hunger, starvation and dehydration would kill them before the Monsters, and gods did.

They were becoming restless and weak.

Dior was terribly sick. He was frightened she'd go into shock if she lost anymore fluid.

He hadn't seen Leax for the past five days. The fishes in the sea died.

The sea turned to blood and smelled of rot.

"I'm hungry. I'm starving." Josh groaned. His eyes were dark and his pupils dilated.

His parents as well sat together staring into space. "I'm starving." His mother groaned.

They were dried out, their bones becoming visible, attached to their flesh.

The echo of laugher drew their attention. Like a dream amid their hungry delirium, a voluptuous woman sat in the middle of the sea on a giant squid as the sea parted into two walls beside hair. "I love it when humans suffer. "

A triton in her hand, her mass of black hair wiggling around her. She was beautiful and her voice was melodious. Her eyes are bluer than the ocean.

Her body was decorated with seashells and pearls all over her sparkling blue skin.

"welcome to the sea of the dead, you humans make it so easy for me to kill you all."

Xorn slapped himself to make sure he wasn't hallucinating.

He wasn't. She was really there in-between the parted ocean. "What a lovely day to feed my beloved pets some human meat," she chuckled.