Chapter 49: The Cost of Crowns

Chapter 49: The Cost of Crowns

Norbert strained against the rope as the crew struggled to adjust the sails. Finally the sails were in the correct position and the ship would move well on the charted course.

“Aye that should do it, thanks young master.” the second officer Pete said as he clapped Norbert on the shoulder.

“I had my share of sailing in my travels.” Norbert said.

“Well that’s good to hear...” Pete said as the pair headed back to the wheel of the ship.

Norbert looked ahead past the prow of the ship and he saw the massive wall of mist that covered the Isles of the Dead. He was on an expedition to the Isles, legends say that on those cursed isles there held a great hoard of treasure. Piles and piles of Grahanam Crowns, enough to buy a nation or two...

Only problem was... no one ever enters the mist and returns. Some say the mist is sailed by the Drowned Armada, a fleet crewed by the drowned dead that died in that cursed mist. Captained by a cursed hero from a bygone age, with a face of a lamb and curved horns on her head. They say half her face was rotted with nothing but bones and maggots eating away at the flesh.

Well those were just stories, they have never been confirmed. Most likely the mist just affected visibility to the point that the ships ended up wrecking on the rocks. Scattered islands often had many smaller shoals of rocks surrounding them.

If Norbert had to guess, that place was a ruin... probably one of those cursed places like the Sea of Mists of the Land of Shattered Bones. Why would an undead fleet sail aimlessly in the mists? Furthermore this legend was tied to this old sea shanty, which just adds further suspicion to the veracity of the claim.

Honestly Norbert, thinks the Drowned Armada is just an old wives tale, born from an old shanty. A shanty that has been turned into a lullaby by the way. This of course would carry the legend far and wide.

“You really think there’s no Drowned Armada?” the captain Felipe asked as he turned to look at Norbert.

“There’s no evidence of it. I’m not about to let an old wives tale decide my future. Have you ever met anyone that has met the Drowned Armada and the Two Faced Admiral?” Norbert asked.

“That’s because no one survives to tell the tale.” Felipe replied.

“Oh? Then where do the stories come from? If no one survives to tell the tale.” Norbert countered as he raised a brow.

“Wondered that myself honestly...” Felipe replied with a small chuckle.

“It’s a ghost story, the real danger is the mist... that problem I can solve...” Norbert said as he looked at the large glowing green lantern on deck. Norbert was a mage, trained in the great Istland Academy, the finest mage academy in Elysia and beyond.

“You know the deal, if the lantern doesn’t work. Then we turn around, if it works and we find that stash we split it half and half.” Norbert said.

“Aye that was the agreement...” Felipe said as he steered the ship so that it was now approaching the mist at an angle.

Norbert looked expectantly as they approached, this lantern was the product of years of work. Norbert held his breath as the ship approached the mist side on, to see if the mist could really be pushed back the lantern.

His heart jumped for joy when he saw the lantern glow and the mist retreated in a circle around the ship. The space was quite large, enough for the ship to navigate...

“Looks good. What do you say lads shall we go in the mist?” Felipe asked as he shouted down at the crew,

“AYE!” the crew replied with a cheer.

“HAHAHA We don’t believe in ghost stories!” Felips said as the crew laughed in response.

Norbert smiled as the ship turned and entered the mist proper. The Lantern was doing well, the mist was clear and they could navigate...

He looked down at his magic compass, a special tool he developed that was resistant against latent Ether interference. It should keep working as long as the mist doesn't crawl over the ship.

Norbert looked at dead waters around him and he saw he was right; the waters were filled with jagged rocks that protruded above the waves. He could see some bit of driftwood bobbing on the waves.

“Looks like you were right, the rocks and the mist sank many vessels.” Felipe said.

“Told you they were just ghost stori...” Norbert began but they suddenly heard an ominous creak. Like a great ship was nearby...

“What was that?” one of the crew asked as the crew looked around but saw nothing.

Then Norbert heard the sound of humming echo out from the mists... it was coming from all around them...

“It’s just ghost stories...” Norbert muttered as he felt his blood turn to ice.

Then a female voice echoed out from the mists...

Ghost stories?

Well, you are right about that...

But one thing you should know, ghosts are real...

So ghost stories are just... stories about ghosts...

You better start believing in ghost stories

You’re in one...

But you will learn, the drowned can sing too...

Like my sisters, your drowned gaping mouths can sing too...

At the moment the humming grew louder and Norbert felt his heart drop as he realised what song they were humming... That old shanty turned lullaby...

So it's into the void

Now me girls and me boys

From mother's hands we go

We'll be sailing against the sun

Till the voyage is done

Then we'll be sleeping in the cold below

Sisters... below, below

We're going where the winds don't blow

“You and your crew may journey to the Isles of the Dead.” the figure said as she raised her sword slightly and Norbert's eyes widened as he realised what she was about to do.

*Tap*

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“HAHAHA!” the figure laughed as she took the Crown from Norbert’s shaking hand to a choir of screams and bodies hitting the deck.

“The living come aboard, however much is left...” the figure said as she turned and began walking down to the main deck.

The figure paused as she looked at the lantern keeping the mist back.

“Nice lantern...” the figure said as she took the lantern off the hook. Her hand glowed an ominous green and the lantern dulled before extinguishing. Instantly the mist flooded back in and Norbert could now barely see past the edge of the ship.

Norbert heard a clicking in his pocket, he reached in and retrieved his compass to see it spinning erratically.

“Add it to my collection.” the figure said as she tossed the lantern to one of the undead crew.

“Yes admiral...” the undead crew said in an odd feminine voice, her words sounding distorted, muted as if uttered beneath water. Norbert then noticed that vile fetid water was dripping from their mouths.

Their lungs were filled with that cursed water...

Then he remembered what the Two Faced Admiral said before that song began.

The drowned can sing too...

The figure turned to look at Norbert, her visage half shrouded in mist.

“What? You think you’re the first to come up with a contraption like this?” the figure said with a mad cackle.

“Sink the ship, add it to the armada and take the living.” the figure said as she turned around.

Norbert screamed as he felt rotted hands grasp him. It was a blur as he was dragged kicking and screaming by the dead. Finally he was dumped on the deck of the ship. How he got up here he had no idea...

He looked up to see the figure staring down at him...

“To the isles... through the cold, and through the deep.” the figure said with another round of insane cackling laughter. With that the deck shuddered and Nobert felt the ship descend before landing in the water with a splash, transforming back to the shape of a seafaring vessel.

Norbert then noticed the deck started to tilt downwards as if the ship was starting to dive. He looked up in panic and he saw that figure smiling down on him.

“What’s wrong? Afraid to get wet?” the figure said and Norbert scrambled to his feet. But it was too late, he stood up just in time to hear the screams of the living and see the wall of water.

In an instant he was under, Norbert tried to hold his breath. It was cold, so cold, the water felt like it was ice cold. He opened his eyes and felt the burning in his eyes from the salt water. He tried to kick off from the ship in an attempt to get to the surface but he felt his feet stuck like they were glued to the deck.

He looked at the figure and he saw her smile as opened her mouth, her chest rose as if taking a deep breath.

Breath it in...

Norbert heard her voice say, the sound muffled and distorted but still intelligible.

At last Norbert could stand it no longer and he gasped. He felt the ice cold water flood his lungs as his vision started to tunnel.

Again he heard her maddening laughter, again that maddening choir singing their cursed shanty...

Oh sisters you

So wise and true

When it's my time to go

Won't you lay me down

Under Grahanam Crowns

And I'll be sleeping in the cold below...

Today we sail

Under tattered sails

So farewell with a kiss

Then it's fast for the mist

Till we're sleeping in the cold below...