“Thwack!”

  Nulifer slapped Joshua across the face. The sound echoed across the deck. Soldiers froze in surprise; it was very unexpected of Nilufer to slap her second-in-command.

  The slap snapped Joshua back to his senses. He didn’t move an inch or said a word, looking down he slowly sheathed his sword. He turned and walked straight to his cabin.

  Nilufer sighed heavily. “Move your lazy ass, you morons!” she shouted as all of the soldiers hastily prepared the ship to set sail.

  She turned towards Elio, reaching out her hand. “So, what’s your name, boy?”

  Nulifer looked stunning— her long strands of red hair fell down around her face, her beautiful ocean blue eyes held a very calm but violent personality. Her small hands looked very delicate, but the battle scars told a different story.

  Elio was startled, he got lost into Nulifer's eyes.

  “Oye? Are you deaf or something!”- Nulifer screamed, as she snapped her fingers in front of Elio’s face.

  “Oh, sorry…My name is Elio. I am from White Town. My family was killed a few nights ago by a monster… a soldier of Indu. Lord Altan came to my rescue. I was sure of my demise but his flame kept me alive.” - Elio said with despair in his voice.

  “Do you know who Lord Altan was fighting?” - Nulifer further enquired, her eyes showing eagerness.

  Elio pulled his knees close to his chest –“He was Dyre, the mayor of White Town. Lord Altan addressed him as an orb of night. He was very strong, at times his strength matched with Lord Altan. I was knocked out cold and didn’t know how it ended.”

  A dreadful expression formed on Nulifer’s face. “So, it is true… an orb of night is real.”

  “Fine you’ve been through a lot, take some rest we will anchor at Land of Hope in a few nights.”- Nulifer said before heading to her chambers.

  Elio watched the soldiers as they raised the anchor and they set sail. The wind was on their side, the ship sailed smoothly. Hours passed as Elio kept himself busy watching the sea waves.

  Suddenly, Elio’s nose caught a whiff of something delicious. His stomach growled loudly– he hadn’t eaten in a long time.

  He followed the smell and reached the kitchen. Something was being prepared in a large pot, and it smelled very tasty.

  As he got closer his stomach growled again, this time even louder. A girl with her hair tied up noticed him.

  “Here you can have some of my snacks. The curry will take another 20 minutes.”- said the girl, offering him some snacks.

  “Thank you very much.”- Elio quickly took the snacks and started munching on them.

  “Crunch..crunch…crunch…”

  “Woah! You are eating like you haven’t eaten in days,”- the girl said, with amazement.

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  “Hello, I am Fitri. I snuck onto this ship by hiding in a container when it was leaving the city. They found me and put me to kitchen duties, because of that fire-spitting woman.”-she said, clenching her fists.

  Elio didn’t respond much. With his mouth full, he just nodded.

  Fitri frowned, clearly unhappy with Elio's behaviour. “YDon’t you know how to respect people? I introduced myself, now it’s your turn. Don’t give me your stupid nods! I even gave you my favourite snacks, and this is how you repay me.” Fitri spoke as Elio could see steam blowing out from her ears.

  “Gulp”.

  Elio quickly swallowed all the snacks, barely avoiding choking. He let out a big sigh of relief and finally said, “I am Elio. I am from White Town.”- Elio said with a slight fear in his eyes.

  Fitri looked even angrier, as steam started to blow out from her ears. “What? That's it! Where's my apology? All you people don’t have manners! Here I am telling how disrespected I feel, and all you do is say two words! I don’t even like to talk with strangers, but I helped you because I thought you might be nice. And, look at the attitude…”

  This kept on going for another hour, Elio sat and listened to Fitri’s lecture while eating the hot curry.

  Suddenly, the ship started moving in a strange way. Barrels and containers rolled across the floor as the ship shook violently. The turbulence took everyone by surprise.

  “Rawwwwwr”

  A loud roar echoed across the ship, and panic spread everywhere. The soldiers rushed to control the ship, turning it and raising the sails. Water started rising in a very peculiar manner.

  The water rose only in one spot, pushing the ship downwards. Both Elio and Fitri lost their balance and started to fall. Elio quickly grabbed a wooden railing of the ship.

  Fitri, who was also falling, collided with Elio, and both of them tumbled onto a wooden deck.

  “Rawwwr!”

  The roar echoed again. A giant, worm-like monster emerges from the raised water. The ship tilted forward before setting back into a stable position.

  The monster was huge in size. Its mouth wide open, looking like a giant tube. Slimy liquid dripped from the it’s mouth, making it look even uglier. The monster spotted the ship and dived with its mouth towards it.

  The monster missed. The strong water currents pushed the ship back. But, the bow of the ship was destroyed.

  Elio, with fear in his eyes, thanked his luck as if the monster hadn’t missed, there would have been a huge hole in the middle of their ship.

  The monster rose again, with its mouth emptied and angry. The ship was still there, this irritated the monster as it growled. Elio felt the anger brewing inside the monster. This time, the monster aimed carefully for the back of the ship. This time it won’t miss.

  It was coming directly at Elio and Fitri. A huge shadow covered the entire back area of the ship. Elio who had been thanking its luck moments ago. started cursing it. “What a shitty way to die, as a worm food.” - Elio thought as the monster approached them.

  Elio closed his eyes accepting his fate, as Fitri started crying for help.

  “Swooosh!”

  After a few seconds Elio with his eyes closed. “Wait…I am alive, but how?” Elio opened his eyes. He saw Joshua — the same man who had wanted to kill him hours ago. Joshua stood in front of him and was covered with dense dark blood as the monster’s head lay twitching on the deck.

  “He killed that thing.” Elio thought as Joshua calmly sheathed his sword.

  A loud cheer erupted from all directions. The soldiers shouted and rooted for their second-in-command.

  Joshua slowly walked towards his cabin, his eyes meeting Nulifer’s.

  Nulifer with a smile on her face - “Good job, you should take a shower, you stench with monster goo.”

  Joshua nodded with respect as he went inside.

  “What are these people, where is the strength coming from? Are they even human?”

  Elio thought as the soldiers pulled ropes around the monster’s head in order to throw the ugly thing out from the ship.

  “Hahaha, Elio you should have seen yourself! You were scared shitless.” Fitri laughed, teasing Elio.

  “Yeah,like people didn’t hear you crying for help,” Elio shot back.

  For a moment, there was complete silence. It felt like a storm was about to hit. Elio could see Fitri’s nerves popping, she clenched her fists, gritted her teeth and was about to start her long lectures again.

  “Young lady, I remember assigning you kitchen duties.”

  The mere voice of the person made Fitri shiver. It was Nulifer. She stood there, looking scarier than the monster before. Fitri turned around and ran straight back to the kitchen, not daring to look back.

  The night passed, Elio spent most of his time in the kitchen as he was assigned with the cleaning duties. At least he was eating well now, but he kept on getting annoyed by Fitri’s constant chatter.

  After a few hours, an island appeared in the distance. It shone brightly in the dark night sky. Soldiers gathered on the deck as they had a promising expression in their eyes after being back home.

  The ship anchored at dock, everyone got off. Elio with nowhere to go, followed other soldiers and Nulifer. After a long journey they finally returned back to the Land of Hope.

  Few kilometres ahead a city was located. A city with hope and positivity in the air. It was Sol City, land where even the darkest nights shined the brightest.

  The streets were lit with lamps and flames, giving the entire city a glowing and fiery look.It seemed as if the city was on fire, yet it felt safe and peaceful. Elio couldn’t hide his amazement, he gazed at the tall and beautiful buildings in front of him.

  Elio was amazed with the town monuments and the overall presentation of the city. “So, this is what heaven feels like.”- he said softly, his eyes sparkling with wonder.

  Nulifer put her hand on Elio’s head - “Welcome to Sol City. Let the past be past, as from tomorrow, you are starting your life from zero.” - Nulifer said with a warm smile.

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