"What was that?" asked Haschel frantically, leaping to his feet faster than the others.
Cries rang around the ship as sailors began to attend to whatever the problem was, and Dart snatched his broadsword from its stowing space under his bed and strapped it to his waist. Albert grabbed his lance, Kongol his axe, and Dart led them out of their cabin.
The hallway running through the sleeping quarters was aflutter with activity, sleepy sailors struggling to wake and determine whether they needed to do anything. Rose and Meru appeared several feet from Dart, and they rushed over, pushing past several groggy crewmembers along the way.
"What happened?" asked Meru.
"I don't know yet," replied Dart. "Where's Shana?"
Meru shrugged. "She isn't in our room."
"Maybe she's already on deck," offered Rose, eyeing Dart carefully.
With Shana's whereabouts unknown, Dart shook his head and took a deep breath. She couldn't have gone too far.
Pushing past several sailors who remained undecided on whether they should go upstairs, Dart and the others made their way to the mess hall, which was surprisingly empty. They intently marched across the room just as a crewmember burst in from the deck, the sheets of rain sweeping across the floor before the door was shut once more.
"You're up!" he cried, rushing over to them and panting. "Something hit the ship! The commodore is requesting your appearance on the deck."
Dart nodded and steeled himself as he approached the door. Heavy rain was not something he savored, but knowing that Shana was safe was more important, and he pulled the door open despite his discomfort. Within ten steps on the deck, he was soaked through. Cringing and pumping heat into his extremities, he followed a wavering torchlight to the bow, where Commodore Puler was barking orders to several sailors who couldn't help but gape at something just past Dart's field of vision. The sea around them was enveloped in darkness, the rain only serving to further occlude their vision.
"You're here!" called the Commodore, struggling to be heard over the sound of crashing waves and pounding rain. He ran up to them, and Dart was jealous for his wide-brimmed hat that kept the top of his head dry.
"What's going on?" shouted Dart.
"Something ran into the ship," replied the commodore. "I think it's another ship, but it's too hard to see through the storm. The rain is putting out all our torches, and theirs."
As if in response to Puler, lightning flashed across the sky, blinking several times before disappearing, its meager light illuminating the unmistakable outline of a ship just past the railing of the Queen Fury.
"Commodore!"
A crewmember ran up the stairs from the main deck and halted right next to Puler. Dart thought he recognized her as the one sorting cargo on their first day at sea.
"We have a hull breach and we're taking on water! We have several people on it, but we might have to seal off a couple rooms if we want to stay afloat!"
"Tend to it and use your best judgment," nodded Puler.
"We can help," called Haschel. "Dart, you handle whatever this is, and Kongol and I can go down and make sure we don't sink. We might need his muscles." He tapped Kongol's bicep.
Dart nodded. "Go."
The three ran off, and Dart returned his attention to the dark mass off the starboard bow just as the torch gave up. Frustrated and irritated by the rain, he held his hands before him and produced a ball of flame a foot across before vaulting it into the sky, where it quadrupled in size. He maneuvered it to hover twenty feet over his head, and the giant fireball began absorbing some of the cascading drops, causing them to sizzle into the air instead of falling on Dart. Every drop that didn't fall on his head was a victory for him, and he maintained the fireball while making himself so warm that he began to sizzle.
Even with the rain and clouds waging war against them, the flames illuminated the entire upper deck, and the light pushed another thirty feet out, revealing what was indeed another ship rammed against the Queen Fury, seemingly supported by the large ramming spikes on the hull. The dark, rotting wood stood in great contrast to the magnificence of the Queen Fury, and a decomposing sail hung blowing in the wind, barely clinging to a decaying mast. Most eerie, however, was the lack of people aboard the ship. It appeared to be deserted.
"The Phantom Ship!" cried a sailor.
"It's real!" said another.
"Silence!" called the commodore. "You have your assignments! Go do your duty!"
The sailors scampered off, grabbing at ropes and fighting to communicate through the storm.
"'Phantom Ship'?" repeated Dart.
"A myth," dismissed Puler, though some level of trepidation remained in his features. "Something sailors talk of when they see something off in the distance at night."
"This is a royal ship," said Albert. "Notice the carving on the tip of the bow? Too intricate for a civilian or trade vessel."
Dart moved closer to the railing and peered through the rain to see old, faded carvings of tree branches and hanging fruits.
"Rose?" came a muted voice from Meru. "You alright?"
Turning, Dart saw Rose with an expression that he could only define as worry. Or perhaps… fear? Was Rose even capable of fear? But on hearing Meru's question, Rose's face contorted into anger before returning to her normal impassive expression.
"It's great that we can see, but where is Shana?" she asked, ignoring Meru altogether.
"There's somebody down there!" called a sailor, pointing into the darkness.
Everyone rushed to the rail, and Dart's heart sank to see the form of Shana splayed out on the much lower deck of the smaller phantom ship.
"Shana!" he called, but she did not stir. "We have to get down there!"
"We'll find a plank!" offered a nearby sailor, and she ran off toward the stern.
"Can you do anything about this rain?" he asked Albert, trying to stay his irritation.
"I am not sure, but I will attempt."
Taking a step back, Albert closed his eyes, concentrated, and began swirling his hands in tiny eddies as he summoned his magic. Dart, Rose, and Meru all looked up into the sky, where clouds floating hundreds of feet above them began to inch their way into a meager swirl. Albert's face contorted into strain, and eventually he exhaled, shoulders slumping, as the clouds resumed their original formation. Then steeling himself, he tried again, only this time, a great gale swept out of the south, buffeting the sails and jolting the ships to teeter toward one side. For a moment, the rain only berated Dart more forcefully, but then the gale lifted, rising higher, above the masts, pushing the rain away from them. Albert's hands were now clenched tightly before him as the ships leveled off.
"I cannot hold this long!" he called. "Get Shana quickly."
Nodding, Dart searched for the plank he had been promised, and thankfully, the sailor approached a moment later, carrying one with the help of another crewmember. Hurriedly, they placed it through the railing supports and tied it in place. It sloped downward fifteen feet where it met the deck of the phantom ship.
"You're steaming!" said Meru as Dart placed a foot on the plank and steadied himself with the railing.
"It's nothing!" he replied as he swung himself over.
Thankful for the wooden grips on the plank, he climbed down as quickly as he dared. His foot slipped once, and he fell hard onto his right elbow, but he merely winced and continued. As he placed a foot on the deck of the phantom ship, Dart felt a slimy coating on the boards that threatened to topple him should he move too suddenly. Shana's limp body lay on her side twenty feet from him, and he kept his eyes focused on her as he stepped carefully over, incredibly grateful for Albert's abilities in sweeping the rain away.
Upon reaching her, Dart fell to his knees and lifted her head, shocked to find her hair bloody beneath her, a dark stain on the deck.
"Shana?" he asked, placing two fingers on her neck. He sighed in relief to feel a pulse, and he jostled her slightly. "Shana, wake up," he pleaded.
Someone shouted something from the ship, but he ignored it as Shana's hand twitched and her brow furrowed. A moment later, her eyes opened and grew wide as she looked around.
"Dart?" she said, sitting abruptly before wincing and throwing a hand to the back of her head. "Where am I?"
Light emanated from her palm and enveloped her skull, healing her as she stood slowly, brow furrowed as she looked around and then up to the distant dragoons.
"Let's get back on the Queen Fury," he replied, placing a hand on her shoulder to steady her. "Then we can talk about it."
She nodded, and Dart turned back toward the plank but stopped in his tracks when he heard a voice whisper behind him.
"Help us," it said.
He spun around wildly; it had not been Shana's voice, but rather much deeper and more distant.
"What was that?" he asked.
"What was what?"
"That voice."
"Help us. Your power… Help us."
The sounds were indistinct, as if someone were speaking through a crack in a door. Glancing around, Dart saw no one, nothing on the slimy, dark, rotting deck.
"I heard it that time," whispered Shana, eyes darting about.
She threw her hand into the air, and a ball of light lifted, casting a bright glow about them, reaching farther than Dart's flame. They stood on the main deck of this phantom ship, both upper decks empty. To their left were stairs leading to the bow, and the door to what was likely the captain's quarters was far to their right, off to the stern. A hatch leading into the ship stood open twenty feet from them. No one could be seen anywhere, and yet they had undoubtedly heard someone speak.
They waited a moment. Nothing happened.
"Your power… Help us," the voice repeated, and they both jumped as they heard a click of a doorknob just to their left. Turning, they watched as a rotten door began to swing open.
"Dart?" prompted Shana cautiously. She took a tentative step backward.
"Go!" he commanded. "Get off the ship!"
She needed no more prodding, and she took off toward the plank, her globe of light following her. She slipped once and fell on her knees, but Dart helped her up as they rushed away and up the plank. Albert and Meru reached over the railing, helping Shana over as Dart followed her up. Reaching the railing himself, Dart swore as the rain began to buffet him once more, though he couldn't deny that it had lessened considerably since they had come outside.
"Are you okay?" asked Meru over the gale.
Shana nodded as she shined a light over her bleeding knee.
"You couldn't hold the rain off until we got inside?" Dart asked Albert, realizing too late the edge in his voice.
"I am sorry," replied the king, holding an arm over his face to block the rain. "My influence is limited in this form."
"Let's go!" called Shana, glancing back and forth between the phantom ship and the safety of the Queen Fury's mess hall.
A few minutes later, Dart was emanating such heat in the mess hall that even sailors were gathering around him to dry off more quickly. He tried to ignore them as he turned to Shana.
"What happened?" he asked, worried he sounded too demanding. "Why were you on that ship?"
She looked down and rubbed her hands together. "I saw it when it was a way off," she explained. "I climbed onto the railing to try to see farther, and when it hit, I fell."
"You were out in the storm?" asked Albert. "Standing on the railing? You could have been killed!"
"I know…" she muttered.
"Help us," came a distant voice.
Dart spun and looked to the door of the mess hall, but it was shut as it had been before.
"What is it?" asked Meru.
"Did you all hear that?" he asked, not taking his eyes off the door.
"Hear what?" questioned Albert.
"I heard it, too," whispered Shana.
"Hear what?" demanded Meru.
Dart's heart pounded as he watched the door. A shadow moved just beyond it, and he placed a hand on his sword hilt. The door opened, and he drew his sword while conjuring a ball of flame, ready to hurl it at any intruder.
"Whoa!" cried Puler, throwing his hands up in surrender as soon as he had the door open. "I come in peace!"
Sighing, Dart absorbed the magic and sheathed his sword.
"I thought you were a ghost," he explained.
"A ghost?" said Puler, Meru, Albert, and two sailors simultaneously.
"Did you see a ghost on that ship?" demanded the commodore as he approached quickly.
"No, but we heard voices," said Shana.
"What did they say?" asked Meru.
"'Help us,'" quoted Dart. "They were begging for our help."
"And you left them?"
"What did you expect us to do? Creepy voices from people we can't see on a creepy ship that rammed into us in the middle of the night? Yeah, we left."
"We should go check it out!"
"Out of the question," said Dart, shaking his head.
"It could be fun!" protested Meru.
"Or dangerous!"
"Actually…" inserted Shana cautiously. "I'm curious, too. Maybe we should just go see what's going on over there."
"What about the Queen Fury?" asked Meru. "We have to get free of that ship so we can move on."
"About that," interrupted Commodore Puler. Everyone turned to him. "I came here to inform you that it seems like the ship is attached to us. We cannot push it off, I am told, even with Kongol's help. It's almost as if magic is holding it in place."
Dart sighed in frustration.
"Help us and you will be free."
"Gods," swore Dart, holding a hand to his chest. "That has to stop."
"More voices?" prodded Albert.
"They said that if we help them, they'll free us," explained Shana.
"Then it seems decided."
"What?" Dart gaped at the king.
"Some catastrophe has befallen the people of that ship," said Albert. "I would guess that their souls are lingering here in the world, and that they cannot leave because of some unrest about how they died. They request our help to pass on. We are all but obligated to assist them so that we ourselves can also leave this place."
Dart stared at him.
"We will all be there. What harm can befall four dragoons?"
"We're not gods," protested Dart.
"I fear we have no choice. We must free the Queen Fury."
"We don't even know that these mysterious voices are what's holding it in place."
"We should at least try!" piped up Meru.
"Whatever you decide," interrupted Puler, "I must attend to my ship. While we cannot do more than drift, I have to at least help to make sure that we do not sink. If you leave, send word with one of my people. Hopefully, we can extricate ourselves soon so that everyone can get some rest."
And with that, he nodded and charged toward the sleeping quarters.
Albert, Meru, and Shana watched Dart, eagerly awaiting a response, and at last, he sighed his defeat.
"Fine," he conceded. "Let's go."
They moved outside again, and Dart was pleased to find that the heart of the storm had moved off, leaving them with trailing winds and light rain. Shana provided light as the clouds still blocked that of the moon, and they marched up the stairs to the upper deck and approached the plank. Dart spoke their plans to one of the sailors patrolling the deck, and he scampered off to tell the commodore.
"Are you sure about this?" asked Rose quietly.
"I'm not," muttered Dart.
"I wanna know what all the voices are about," affirmed Meru.
"I want to help these people if we can," agreed Shana.
"And I would like to be able to make it to Mille Seseau," concluded Albert.
Dart sighed as he led the way over onto the other ship, an uneasy feeling in his gut. The others moved across just as successfully, and only a few minutes later, they stood together in a huddled mass on the decaying deck of the phantom ship, awaiting the greeting of whatever souls had summoned them.
It didn't take long for them to oblige.
"Help us…" came the distant voice.
Meru yelped.
"There!" called Dart. "Did you hear it?"
"Yes, I heard it," confirmed Albert. "Most unsettling."
"We want to help you," said Shana, pushing past Dart boldly. "How do we do that?"
They waited for several long moments, but nothing happened. Then, movement.
Collectively, they all spun to face their right, where a dull blue glow had appeared. Almost like a burning flame, it inched toward them, leaving behind the captain's cabin. Shana stumbled backward, falling in line with them as the spirit approached, and Meru gripped Shana's wrist tightly. Dart wondered whether it was intentional when Shana's light suddenly shined brighter above their heads, but the luminescence did little to stagger the fiery wisp.
As it drew closer, Dart fancied that he could make out shapes, perhaps those that would form a human body. Then the lines became more distinct, and the blue glow faded, and a translucent, ghostly form took shape before their eyes.
The spirit looked like a man, perhaps in his forties, wearing tattered, formal clothing. On his head sat a decorated sailor's cap, and his trousers were pure white except for a long trail of dried blood that ran down his left leg. Dart's breaths came heavier as he made out the grievous wound that ran across his left side, peeking out through his ripped jacket that was torn asunder as if it had been cut by a blade. The man's eyes were hollow and distant, lacking iris or pupil, but merely glazed over as if by fog. Most challenging to behold, however, was the wide cut that ran across his throat, exposing the bony, pinkish innards of his windpipe.
"Captain?" asked Dart, though his voice very nearly refused to leave his throat.
"My people," he rasped. "Help us." When he spoke, his jaw moved, but his withered lips did not.
"How?" asked Albert, his voice unwavering despite the terror that now seized Dart's heart.
"Your power. Help us. Bring us peace."
"Why are you without peace? What happened here?"
"Black fire. Darkness. Death."
"How did you die?" came Meru's small voice.
"The monster… who devours the gods. We failed. Help us. Bring us peace."
"What?" said Dart, straightening. "The Black Monster?"
"We failed to stop it. Help us. Bring us peace."
"How do we bring you peace?" repeated Albert.
The ghostly man pointed at Albert. "One like you. He mourns. His cries… hold us. We failed him."
"One like me?" asked the king.
He stepped forward, but the ghost turned back into a blue flame before washing away, like wind snuffing out a candle. Dart gritted his teeth, and his fists balled tightly.
"What did he mean, 'one like you'?" asked Meru.
"This was once a royal ship," reasoned Albert. "Perhaps there was a king onboard who fell to this evil."
"The Black Monster, you mean?" growled Dart, turning to them.
"It… would seem so," nodded Albert, frowning as he considered. "It is curious, though. This would not coincide with any of the recent attacks. I studied the list that Fester showed us multiple times, cross-referencing with maps to try to discern a pattern. None of them occurred on the ocean. Perhaps these people misunderstood, or perhaps they had a different legend of a monster who 'devours gods.'"
"Maybe it happened before Fester's list."
"I would agree except that this ship cannot possibly be a thousand or more years old."
"Maybe we should stop arguing and move on," inserted Rose.
Sighing, Dart nodded and turned away before gesturing in either direction.
"Which way?" he asked.
"A king would likely stay in the upper rooms of the ship," offered Albert. "Let us start there."
The rain had lessened to a light sprinkle as the group moved cautiously off to the left, toward the bow. Distant lightning still flashed occasionally across the sky, but it provided little light. Instead, they continued to rely on Shana's magic, which spread a warm comfort across them as they stepped up to the door that had autonomously opened for Dart and Shana earlier.
With a deep breath to steady himself, Dart slowly reached for the doorknob, grabbed it, and turned. He waited a moment, but nothing happened, and he pushed it open.
He jumped as the hinges creaked loudly, the rusty metal struggling to perform its duty. The room was pitch black, save for Shana's light that fought to pierce through the doorway, and Dart took an uneasy step forward.
Cold air hit him, and he shrunk away, warming himself instinctively. Then as everyone moved into the room, Shana's light filled it, and he was able to make out the details. It was some kind of bedroom, but not as lavish as he had expected. In fact, it almost appeared to have been fashioned into a sort of storage room, with numerous boxes and crates, all open, their lids tossed haphazardly about. The only vestige of kingly respite that remained was a large, fourposter bed on the right wall, the curtains long since tattered, most having fallen to the floor. The entire room smelled stale and lifeless, and Dart wasn't surprised when Albert swept in a bout of fresh air a moment later.
"This doesn't seem like a king's quarters," observed Meru.
"Indeed," replied Albert. "Most curious."
He stepped up to one of the empty crates and peered inside.
"Rotten food stores," he explained. "Maybe enough for a week or two with the crew of a ship this size."
Dart peered in another and saw the desiccated remains of what could have been some type of fruit but was now far beyond recognition. He crinkled his nose to imagine what the room could have smelled like three weeks after the attack.
"Look!" called Meru, and Dart saw her pointing toward the back of the room, where a string of windows looked out on the roiling ocean. But rather than taking in the scene, his eyes were drawn immediately to another blue flame, like the one that had come to them only moments before. However, this one appeared angry, its flames bouncing high, licking the ceiling in their fury. It glowed brighter, too, casting a dour light on crates sitting under the windows.
"How dare you come back," it said, this voice lower and gruffer than the other. "We will not give in. We will fight until we die."
As Dart opened his mouth to respond, another flame appeared on its left, and then another on its right.
"We will not give up," the right one said.
They moved forward, each forming into another figure. But these were no mere sailors; their knightly armor shone, tufts of singed feathers sprouting out the top of the middle helmet, a tree emblazoned on each breastplate. Simultaneously, they drew their swords, and their furrowed faces cast their wrath before them.
Like the captain, their wounds were still visible. The left one limped forward on a leg that was barely attached, and his left arm was missing. The middle wore burns across his face and legs, and a sword had pierced just above his right hip. The one on the right lacked a helmet, and part of his head had been split open, revealing his brain.
Meru squeaked in terror, and Dart's hand flew to his sword. Drawing it quickly, he planted himself in front of the women, Albert taking his place on Dart's left.
"We mean you no harm!" cried Dart. "We're here to help you!"
"You dare deceive us?" the middle scorned. "You come only to kill and destroy."
"Bloodthirsty monster!" screamed the right, and he charged forward, sword raised high and ready to fall on Dart's head.
Dart staggered backward, terrified of the ghostly blade, unsure whether it would harm him but certain that he could do nothing to stop its motion. Then there was a bright flash of light, followed immediately by intense and terrifying darkness. Light and dark magic swirled and fought before Dart's eyes, each threatening to overtake the other. Then a bolt of dark energy shot past Dart's left ear and joined the fray, forcing the mass to explode. Dart threw a hand over his face as Albert thrust air forward, pushing the danger away from them, and the windows shattered as the boom echoed in his ears. The magic shot out into the night air, nearly deafening them and leaving Dart almost too dazed to stand.
Panting heavily, he grabbed onto the nearby bedpost to steady himself as pain shot into his wound, and he exclaimed before collapsing to his knees. Somehow, the cut Rose had given him throbbed even more than normal. He hadn't felt pain like this since fighting Mappi without his dragoon spirit.
"Is everyone okay?" asked Shana, her voice strangely muted after their thunderous experience.
"I am," said Dart hurriedly as he staggered to his feet, though he couldn't help but cradle his arm as the deathly pain throbbed through it.
Glancing around, he saw that the others had been less affected, and all eyes were fixed on him.
"Thanks for that," he mumbled to Albert.
"Where did they go?" asked Meru, her eyes now drifting to where the spirits had stood moments earlier.
"Whatever they were using to project themselves has been temporarily interrupted," said Rose.
Her voice was flat, but Dart thought he could see some timidity behind her eyes. He tried to catch her gaze, but she seemed to be actively avoiding it, and he gave up and instead followed Albert to where the ghosts had appeared.
"As I suspected," said Albert, gesturing to the floor.
Three armored skeletons lay there, one missing its left arm and bearing a deep cut into its right leg, one with a long-decayed plume on its helmet, and the other missing part of its skull. Dart knelt beside them, wincing as he did so and hoping the others didn't notice. He ran his finger over the decorative tree splayed across one of the breastplates, wiping off dust and ash. Glancing around, he now saw that there was evidence of fire on many of the boxes and crates, many of them blackened, but only one or two having been allowed to burn away. Then reaching out, he touched the skull that had been sliced cleanly open, noting the ease with which the weapon had divided the bone.
"All this time," he muttered, "I always thought the Black Monster was an animal or something. Some monster, maybe something like a virage, some creature that chased down innocents when the time came. But this…" He looked up at Albert, mildly irritated at the tears that now welled in his eyes. "This is the work of a person."
Albert nodded solemnly and stood. "If indeed this was the work of the Black Monster, we have learned yet one more thing about it; it is a he or she."
"No." Dart shook his head. "It might not be an animal, but it is still a monster." His voice trembled as he continued, and a tear fell down his face. "No person could do this and still be a person. The Black Monster, whatever it is… it lost its soul long ago."
"Can we leave now?" whispered Meru, her eyes trained on the skeletons in the floor.
"We should move on," nodded Albert.
As a large wave rocked the ship, they walked out the door and back onto the deck. The rain had now lifted completely, but wind still dragged along the water, pulling up wave after wave to batter against the phantom ship and the Queen Fury. Glancing over, Dart noticed that numerous torches had been lit, and the sailors were still straining to fix the problem, as several of them were working together to tug on ropes tied to something near the ocean. A string of crewmembers had also begun carrying buckets of water down a line that emptied into the sea. If they didn't hurry, the Queen Fury would sink.
"I am sure that Haschel and Kongol are working hard," said Albert, interrupting Dart's thoughts. "All we can do to help now is continue on our path so that these phantoms will release the Queen Fury."
Dart nodded, and they shuffled over to the other door. Inside was another room, smaller than the other, but not one fashioned into a storeroom. This room was more lavish and livable, with a desk, large bed, dressers, and a sitting chair by a small fireplace. But Dart's optimism was dashed when they discovered the skeletal remains of the captain of the ship, the bones no longer bearing any trace of his fatal wounds, though his jacket, trousers, and cap matched almost exactly what they had seen on the ghost, if a few decades older.
Reluctantly, they agreed to their need to go belowdecks, and Dart led them out before he eased up to the open hatch in the middle of the deck. It was large, at least four feet long on a side, and the stairs leading down were just as wide. Even so, the group eyed each other cautiously, waiting to see who would make the brave venture first.
All except Rose, who faced the open sea and avoided their eyes.
"I'll go first," said Dart sourly, frowning as he placed a tentative foot on the first slippery step.
He tested it before letting his full weight fall on the rotting wood, and feeling mostly satisfied, he began his descent into a darkness that seemed to seep into his soul. It reminded him of Rose's magic, worming its way into his mind and pushing his heart into a state of flight. All he wanted was to go back to the Queen Fury, sleep, and worry about this in the morning. But the shouts coming from the ship did not bode well; he cast one more furtive glance over before engulfing himself in darkness. He flexed his left hand, willing away the continuous pain in his arm.
"You dare come here," whispered the night. "You take our lives and now you come to defile our bodies."
Dart's heart thudded in his chest, and he was never more grateful to hear footsteps behind him. Albert, Shana, Meru, and Rose joined him and brought Shana's light, illuminating the space around them. A wall stood just to their left, but nobody else could be seen within the range of the light, which seemed strangely dim despite its far-reaching radius before. There were shadows cast beyond it, like voids waiting to swallow them up.
"Did you hear that?" whispered Dart. His airy voice echoed around them, resurfacing memories of the cave in the northeast of Serdio. As he recalled that long underground trek, he blinked and shook his head to dispel the images.
"No," answered Albert.
Dart took two steps forward and waited. Nothing happened. All they could hear were their own breaths and the creaking of the boat as the waves pushed it around.
"What are we waiting for?" asked Meru, though she sounded terrified to learn the answer.
"Nothing," replied Dart in hushed tones, trying to convince himself that it was true.
Placing a hand on the wall to his left, Dart began moving slowly forward, hoping the light would illuminate a doorway or a ghost or anything besides the pitch black that awaited them. Their shoes echoed noisily as they inched forward, and suddenly, Dart felt that the entire boat was pressing in on them. The ceiling seemed suddenly lower, the ocean suddenly louder, and his footing less sure.
"You dare come here!" a voice shouted at him, still oddly distant and near, almost deafening him again as he staggered backward in fright.
Meru and Albert yelped in surprise at hearing the voice, and Dart instinctively threw a ball of fire before him. It fought against the black, illuminating a short tunnel as it flew across the large room and revealed several tables before it hit the far wall.
"Mess hall," breathed Dart, though the knowledge did little to calm him. He let the fire extinguish.
"You must have struck the hull," reasoned Albert, his voice now wavering in his fear.
"We will be the end of you this time."
Unlike before, Dart realized the futility of his sword and instead generated a flame in each hand. He waited, and as he expected, two tiny blue wisps appeared, one before him and one to his left. Shana brightened her magic, though it seemed to reach only a few inches farther.
"We will end you, monster!" cried multiple voices from all directions as another half dozen wisps appeared. "You will not take our souls!"
Someone shrieked behind him, and Dart spun just as the entire room collapsed into a magical darkness, snuffing Shana's light completely. Terror took hold of his heart, and he pushed flames before him into the void where he had been sure no one was standing. A wall of fire took shape before them, and he heard wrathful hissing beyond it.
"Rose!" cried Meru and Shana, and Dart turned to see the dark dragoon cowering on her knees, hands over her head as she rocked back and forth. Blood flowed from a wound on her left side.
Shana pushed out another light, and Dart glanced around worriedly, though no wisps were to be seen. Immediately, Shana began healing Rose's wound, though Rose continued to rock, muttering something to herself.
Pulling Meru out of his way, Dart knelt next to Rose and placed a hand on her shoulder.
"Rose, we're alright," he said, shaking her lightly.
She didn't respond.
"Rose?" he asked, leaning forward to see her face, but it was veiled by her dark hair. "Rose, we can handle it. They won't hurt us."
"Dart," warned Albert, and Dart looked up to see other wisps appearing near where he supposed the walls were.
We can't wait for this, he considered before grabbing both of Rose's shoulders and shaking her more forcefully.
"Rose!" he cried. "You have to get it together! We have to figure this out so we can leave!"
Suddenly, Rose's head snapped up, and her eyes met his. Tears shimmered on her cheeks. For just a moment, he felt that he was talking to a little girl, terrified by the chaotic world around her. Such fear dwelt in her eyes that Dart had only seen in one other person. This fear reminded him of himself, the tiny child covering his head in a downed tree as his family was slaughtered.
And then Rose's fear was gone, replaced in whole by anger and determination. She stood, and Dart moved away from her, gathering his fire to him as Rose clapped her hands together.
"Circle us," she commanded, separating her hands to generate a swath of dark energy.
Obeying, Dart pulled the fire around him, surrounding them in a swirl of torrential heat as Rose's energy grew. Then pushing with her hands, she forced the darkness out, where it swirled within the fire, turning it into a black flame that sparked some deep-seated fear within Dart. Nevertheless, he stood beside her, and together they vaulted the dark fire around them, and it sped out in every direction, swallowing the souls completely until they vanished altogether. Twinges of flame lit on the fringes, and Dart allowed them to burn for just a moment so that they could finally get a feel for the size of the dark room.
It was smaller than he'd expected, perhaps a fourth the size of the mess hall on the Queen Fury, and Dart made special note of a doorway off toward the stern. Toward the bow was a doorway that he guessed would lead to the personal quarters. Scattered about were a dozen skeletons, remnants of the ancient attack.
In the absence of spirits, the group paused to breathe in the calm. As the distant flames faded, they turned to each other, and Shana cautiously reached out and touched Rose's arm.
"Are you okay?" she whispered.
"Yes, I am fine now," answered Rose, her voice as unwavering as ever. "I'm sorry. I don't know what came over me… Let's move on."
"Which way?" asked Meru.
"If the king did not stay in the room designed for him, perhaps he was hiding," offered Albert. "I would suggest going deeper into the ship, perhaps into the cargo hold."
"That makes sense," muttered Dart, though he had kept his eyes on Rose, waiting to see if she would react.
Albert nodded and moved toward the stern, but Dart waited when Rose hesitated. She turned to follow the others, but her eyes met his for a moment, and Dart questioned her silently. Her brow furrowed, almost in pain, before she shook her head and moved away.
Sighing, Dart followed.
Though he was grateful that Albert was now in the lead, Dart couldn't help but feel uncomfortable being in the rear. With every wave to jostle the ship, something creaked, and he jumped, half expecting another ghost to appear to haunt them from behind. But nothing came as they passed through the doorway and descended a staircase that turned back on itself to empty into the great underbelly of the ship – the cargo hold.
"Interesting," muttered Albert as he beheld the scene.
The cargo hold was surprisingly spacious, but not because of the size of the ship. Indeed, this phantom ship was half the size of the Queen Fury, and yet this room still felt open and free simply because it was devoid of any cargo save three crates haphazardly tossed about by their years at sea.
"No cargo?" mentioned Dart.
"What ship travels without cargo?" asked Meru. "Even the Queen Fury loaded up from Donau before we left."
"They must have left in a hurry…" mumbled Albert, glancing around, his mind almost audibly working to connect the dots.
"Look!" called Shana, pointing to the curved wall on her left.
Dart followed her gaze and saw something that his mind did not quite understand. Inching his way over, he realized that his initial interpretation had been correct: the hull had rotted away in this spot, leaving a ghastly hole with ocean currents frothing against it. And yet, none of the water entered the ship.
Kneeling by the hole, he reached his hand out, flinching when his finger contacted the cold seawater. Then, despite himself, he plunged his hand into the ocean, moving through the hole in the hull, and yet the water seemed magically contained.
"We're under sea level right now, aren't we?" he asked as he burned the water off his hand.
"Indeed," remarked Albert, his eyes now trained on the spot. "How is the ship afloat?"
"Some kind of magic," offered Meru.
"It would seem so. But what kind?"
Dart looked around and noticed multiple other places where the ocean was freely visible and yet nonthreatening. It seemed as if the ship itself refused to fade until its purpose had been served.
"The kind that keeps people from completely dying," replied Dart, turning back to the others in a flare of rage. "The Black Monster killed these people, slaughtered them, and even their ship is clinging to life, hoping to reach peace one day! What kind of thing does this? When will it get enough killing and just die itself?"
"Stop!" cried Rose suddenly.
He turned to her in raging curiosity. She faced away from them, off toward the stern, fists balled tightly. He breathed heavily, ready for whatever retort Rose could come up with for his brash irritation, but Dart's eyes were then drawn instead to Shana. Her wide eyes were trained on his right fist, balled tightly and wreathed in flame. He hadn't noticed until now.
Shana took a frightened step back, and guilt and grief sank into Dart's heart. He dismissed the magic immediately and moved to speak to her, to apologize, but she shook her head to break her bewildered concentration and instead turned toward Rose, who remained unmoving.
"You should check that room," announced Rose, her voice wavering despite her forceful command.
Dart followed her gaze, and Shana brightened her light. At the far end of the room stood a doorway whose door had been splintered by a great force. Charred chunks of it were still attached to the hinges, but many burnt pieces of it were scattered about just outside. An eerie void sat beyond the doorway, a dark place that Shana's light could not penetrate. Dart's heartbeat accelerated as he watched it. It pulled his attention in a peculiar way that he could not explain. All at once, his left arm began aching again, and he winced even as he took several tentative steps toward the room.
"No," came several distant whispers from all around them. They glanced about the empty room. "You cannot go there. You cannot defile her grave!"
"Go on," nudged Rose, nodding to Dart. "I will stay here and… deal with this."
Dart hesitated.
"I can handle it!" she chided. "Go! You have to free the Queen Fury."
Nodding, Dart led Shana, Albert, and Meru toward the tiny room while Rose stood guard. Glancing behind him, Dart saw a dozen wisps form along either wall, though no bodies could be seen near them. It felt as if they were all converging on this place, the souls from above ready to make their final assault.
"I will stay with her," announced Albert before turning back and preparing himself for a magical battle alongside Rose.
"Black Monster," called the voices. "You will not touch her. Her body will lie here forever, out of your defiling reach."
"Dart, the sooner we deal with this, the sooner we can help them," urged Shana, tugging at his sleeve.
Swearing, he left Albert and Rose and charged ahead of Shana and Meru into the room. It was so small that Meru was forced to wait in the doorway, eyes glancing nervously over her shoulder as the wisps approached and Rose began formulating a deathly spell.
As Shana's light finally pushed into the darkness, she and Dart stopped and gasped. Before them, a skull was pinned to the wall with a wooden stake through the left eye socket, the rest of the body having detached long ago, the bones now tangled with each other on the floor. And in the corner on a rotting bed lay another skeleton less than two feet long. The skull was disproportionately large for a human, and Dart realized with sudden horror that this had been an infant. The child's collarbone had been snapped, along with at least three tiny ribs, each smaller than Dart's smallest finger.
The last time Dart had seen a child that small was at a birthday celebration in Seles over six years ago. They'd held a party for a couple who had finally given birth after nearly a decade of struggling with conception, and the newborn had only been two weeks old. Dart had been astonished at how tiny she had been. And now, before his eyes, the skeleton of an infant lay mutilated.
Despite the sounds of a coming battle behind him, he was overcome with an emotion he hadn't thought himself capable of. Tears welled in his eyes, and he nearly collapsed as his despair overtook him. Shana had a similar reaction beside him, but he could barely focus enough to notice. He vaguely processed her turning away with her mouth covered as he stepped forward helplessly and swore to himself that the Black Monster would pay for this slaughter.
Then he was shaken to alertness as a blue light appeared in the corner, hovering over the child. Gasping past his cries, Dart struggled to focus enough to conjure a flame, and he placed himself between the light and Shana. But it didn't appear angry, as the others had been. Rather, its fire was calm, like the captain's. And now, it took form, changing and shifting into a human form that again reflected his fatal injury.
This man was taller than the captain but more rotund. His face was youthful, hardly any older than Albert, but his remaining eye was filled with a soulful sadness. His black hair waved down to his shoulders, matching a short moustache and patchy beard. Although Dart believed that this was the king they were looking for, his clothing was anything but royal; it seemed that he really had been trying to hide his identity on his trip across the sea, but it had not worked as flawlessly as he must have hoped. This king was broken within, his soul crushed under the weight of his murdered child.
"Are you the king?" asked Dart tentatively, and his throat caught.
The man nodded slowly.
A loud boom echoed out behind them, but Dart ignored it.
"What happened?" he asked.
"The Black Monster," replied the king, his voice echoing around the small room. "The foul beast took everything from me. I failed. My child… My Louvia…"
His voice trailed off, and ghostly tears began falling from his eyes as he began to moan – a terrible, pitiable, mournful sound. He turned and watched the tiny skeleton as he began to sob.
"I will never see her again! I could not protect her. I could not save her."
"You did your best," whispered Shana. "You couldn't have stopped such a powerful being on your own."
The king turned slowly. When he saw Shana, his eyes narrowed, and he turned his head to one side. He stepped forward, and Shana grabbed Dart's shoulder and shifted slightly more behind him.
"Your eyes…" he said, a smile creeping forth. "You… You're alive?" He reached out his hand to touch Shana's face, but she recoiled. "Ah, you would not recognize me. But… one of us succeeded. It was not all in vain."
"What do you mean?" asked Shana. "Who are you?"
"That no longer matters. To see you… Yes, I think… it is enough."
"What?"
"What is your name?"
Bewildered, Shana shook her head slightly before giving an answer.
"Shana," the ghost repeated, trying it out. "It suits you." Then he turned to Dart. "Thank you for taking care of her. And thank you for coming here. I feel that… I can let go."
Hisses rang out from the cargo hold, wrathful ghosts pining for Rose and Albert. A glance outside showed splinters of wood swirling around, and darkness had taken over most of what Dart could see. When he turned back to the ghostly king, the phantom had dissipated into several wisps of blue light that then disappeared, like smoke in a breeze.
"Did we do it?" asked Meru. "Just like that?"
The ship lurched suddenly, and several small jets of water began to spray in from the outer hull. One hit Dart in the face, and he sputtered as he pushed Shana and Meru out the door and into the cargo hold. A splinter of Rose's magic struck Dart on the neck, and he gasped as his arm exploded in pain.
"It's done!" he shouted into the room, and a moment later, it was clear once more. But the large hole where Dart had been able to touch the ocean now gushed water, along with all the other hull breaches, and already several inches of seawater stood on the floor. "We have to get out! Back to the Queen Fury!"
Several cracks sounded above him, and Dart glanced up just as the ceiling gave way. Grabbing Meru and Shana, he pulled them back as the rotting boards collapsed onto where Rose and Albert had stood a moment before.
A poof of air sounded out, and Dart saw Albert standing with merely a cut on his face and arm, having blown the wood away from him. Rose, however, was nowhere to be seen.
"Rose!" called Dart, rushing forward to fling the boards off to the side. The water now sloshed around his ankles, and he gritted his teeth. Albert quickly joined him, and they soon extricated her, now unconscious, and Dart lifted her out of the rubble.
"Get those two back to the ship!" he commanded Albert. "I'll follow with Rose! Go!"
Albert nodded and urged Shana and Meru up the stairs. Dart followed with Rose in his arms, carefully stepping over the loose and splintered boards. Just as he heard their footsteps reach the top of the steps, a wave bumped into the ship and knocked him off balance. He fell onto his knees, fighting to keep Rose from hitting the ground too hard. Then steadying himself, he stood once more and pushed up the stairs, hovering a fireball near him for light.
The cargo hold now held more than a foot of water, and the entire ship now leaned slightly to the starboard stern. Dart fought to stay upright as he navigated through the dark, slippery ship. More water was coming into the mess hall, pouring in from both sides, and the greater part of the floor had collapsed into the cargo hold. He was forced to trek around the edge of the room, through the small waterfalls now flooding the ship, soaking himself as he approached the stairs. He saw someone's ankle fly onto the deck as he glanced up the fifteen-foot climb, and he braced himself. At that moment, Rose stirred, her brow furrowing, and her eyes flew open.
"Rose!" he cried joyously as he set her down.
She took a moment to steady herself, blinking quickly. Then realizing their situation as the ship continued to tilt toward the stern, she turned to Dart.
"They're already on their way out," he assured, and with no more hesitation, she rushed up the stairs.
The deck of the ship was now sloped toward the still-frothing ocean, and Dart looked toward the bow to see Albert helping Shana over the railing onto the Queen Fury. Meru, Haschel, and Kongol stood awaiting them on the deck, and a moment later, Albert slung himself over to safety.
Rose and Dart climbed up the deck, struggling to keep their footing as they went. Just as Dart thought he might slip and fall, Rose grabbed his right wrist and latched onto the door frame that they had first entered.
The ship was nearly vertical now, and Rose just managed to put herself inside the room, resting her weight on the doorframe as she used both hands to hang onto Dart's. One by one, the crates inside the room began to slide down and thud onto the wall now supporting Rose's weight, threatening to break it.
"Give me your other hand!" she called, a clear terror overtaking her eyes. She reached out for him, and he felt his foot's grip on the deck give way. He yelped as his full weight shifted to Rose's grip as she grunted in response, and he glanced down to see the dark ocean, still a hundred feet away, rushing toward him uncomfortably quickly.
"Dart!"
He tried to swing his hand up, but instead he just smacked her fingers with his, sending another ripple of pain up his arm. Another crate slammed into the wall on Dart's right, this time cracking it and nearly breaking through.
"Let go, Rose! There's no time!" he called back to her.
His heart beat so loudly in his ears that he would have been surprised if she couldn't hear it over the rushing water all about them. He heard shouts coming from the Queen Fury, but he couldn't see them past the upper deck of the phantom ship. As he looked at Rose, he saw his own panic reflected in her face, and he was once again amazed to see her weeping.
"I can't," she choked out. "I can't let go again."
"Rose, please! You can still climb up in time!"
"No! I won't let go!"
The four-poster bed slid into the wall and finally shattered it, jolting the ship and sending broken boards at Dart. A mighty splash heralded its fall into the ocean, and Dart dangled dangerously, swinging to and fro with the movement of the ship. A moment later, the ship staggered again, and Dart was thrown against the deck. His left arm struck the thick boards, and he cried out. Rose's grip had slipped slightly, and she now sobbed openly just as three crates slid into the ocean and another slammed into the wall on Dart's left. The impact was so close to Rose that she jumped, and this time, she could not keep hold. Dart felt his stomach lurch as gravity took hold of him.
Rose screamed, but Dart could not hear her over the wind that rushed past his ears. He could not breathe. He could not think. All he knew was that the cold, dark water would soon overtake him, and he closed his eyes in a desperate hope that he could withstand it.
As he plunged into the ocean, all became muted as waves began to toss him about. Desperately, he searched for some light around him, something to swim toward, but he could see nothing. He spun wildly, desperate for air, desperate for heat, desperate for dryness, but it was nowhere to be found. Objects floated around him in the darkness, but they couldn't even sink for the waves. Just as he was about to swim in any direction, no matter where it took him, something heavy plunged into the water, finally showing him the way up. But it came at him faster than he could process it, and pain erupted in his forehead as it struck him.
And then, he blacked out.