Beyond Eternity

DAY 15, A.M

Lucas woke up that day noticing that the sun was already up, he sat up in bed and noticed something was amiss.

“Wait, where’d the wolves go?” He thought to himself as he stood up. “Maybe they already left.”

Just as he opened the door which led to the hallway towards the main hall, he saw one of them dart across, he went to its direction and saw later on that all the wolves were there, waiting expectantly outside the castle kitchen.

“Ah, they must we waiting for food.” Lucas thought to himself. “Are you in there, Claudia?” He asked loudly.

He then heard a reply which he recognized to be her voice. “Yeah, just wait a little longer, I’ll be done here soon!” It said.

“By the way.” It continued. “Should we feed the wolves again after breakfast?”

“I don’t see why not.” Lucas replied.

“Well, it’s just that, if we do that, the boar will be completely gone then.”

“Oh… I see.” He said upon realizing it. “My legs don’t exactly feel like going on another hunting trip, but I’d also feel bad if I don’t give these guys anything.”

Claudia left the kitchen holding two plates. “There is an easier way to acquire meat though, how do you feel about fishing?” She said.

“That’s a good idea… Wait, why didn’t you tell me sooner? We could’ve saved us a lot of trouble!” He exclaimed.

“I didn’t feel like eating fish.” She replied.

“That’s it?”

“Well, I did give you fish before, remember the ramparts? So I thought maybe it’d be boring for us to be eating the same food over and over.”

“And yet you have no qualms about eating the same elk, hen, rabbit or boar for at least three meals?”

“Ok, you’ve got a point.”

“Do you not like fish?”

“I don’t dislike it, but I preferences which vary with the days, that is all.”

“So I’ve just been foolishly doing as you said huh?” He said in a defeated voice.

“Hey! It’s also your fault for not telling me what kind of meat you wanted.”

“Well, it’s more about the physical effort I have to go through rather than the type of meat really.”

“You were so excited with hunting the first time around you know?”

“I also immediately regretted it.”

“Oh, now you’re just whining, so what do you say? Shall we go fish?”

“Sure, let’s do that.” Lucas said with a hint of relief in his tone.

Soon enough, the both of them had finished eating their meals, after fixing up, Claudia gave the wolves the rest of the meat which they immediately ate.

“Well then, it’s time for you to go, Lo.” Claudia said, looking at the alpha. It soon walked outside the castle along with its pack.

“Bye, Lo!” She said as she waved at them.

“Bye Yu!” Lucas said as he did the same.

“Yu? Who’s that?” Claudia asked.

“Oh, remember the one from last night which I mistook for a boy? I named it Yu.”

“Is that so, not bad.”

“Why thank you.”

“It’s still early.” Lucas said. “But how about we go to the shoreline?”

“You want to start fishing now? Well, that’s fine, I’ll get the rods.” Claudia replied.

“And I’ll find some bait.” Lucas said in response.

Claudia began searching through one of the rooms, eventually finding a few rods. Along with some straw hats “Ah, here they are.” She said to herself.

Lucas went to the garden and began searching for worms, which took no time to find and fill a container which he held. “This should be enough.” He thought to himself.

“Here’s the bait.” He said after he and Claudia met up once more. She handed him a rod and put a straw hat over his head.

“Looking good.” She smiled and said.

The pair walked outside the castle in the direction of the seashore, on the way, Lucas asked a question.

“Claudia, you once mentioned sewing most of the clothes around here yourself right? Did you make these hats too?”

“That I did.” She replied. “Why?”

“Nothing, really, just wondering.”

“Does it look good on me?” She asked teasingly.

“It actually really does. It seems that you designed that particular one better than the others in fact.” He replied, bringing his head close to hers for further inspection, which caused her to go red and silent for the rest of the walk.

“I win.” Lucas thought to himself.

It took them a little bit of time, but eventually the pair found themselves a spot atop a steep cliff which had mildly deep waters below it, along with a conveniently positioned tree to provide them some shade.

“Look over there.” Claudia said, pointing at their left. “That was part of the boat from where you came from right?”

“It is, you’re right.” Lucas remarked.

“Wait, actually…”

“What is it Claudia?”

“Doesn’t it seem to you as though there are more planks of wood now?”

“Maybe the rest of the wreckage washed up here?”

“Perhaps, but I’ll go take a look just to be sure, can you wait here for a bit?”

“Sure, I’ll just be here.” He said in response as he cast his rod into the sea. She nodded in agreement and went.

She headed towards where the wood planks were located.

“I definitely recognize these ones.” She thought to herself, looking at what seemed to her like the exact same pieces of wood she saw the day Lucas arrived.

She went even further, passed by some more rocks by the shoreline until she was no longer within sight of Lucas and he not from hers. She was shocked at what she saw.

Planks of wood, far more in number than what they could see before, littered the shore, among these, most seem to still be attached to each other, barely forming the appearance of a large, broken ship.

“The storm last night must have brought this here. Not from our docks, this one.” She quickly ran back towards where Lucas was.

“Lucas!” She called out, to which he responded by holding a fish up in the air, once she was in front of him once more, she continued to speak.

“There’s a wrecked ship washed up ashore over there, and I’m certain that wasn’t there before, would you take a look at it?” Her tone with a mix of excitement and worry.

“You saw what now? That’s news, let’s go.” He replied as he gathered his catch and equipment. Soon enough, the two of them were back at the scene.

“So what do you think?” Claudia asked.

Lucas went up close the vessel, examining its woodwork and appearance, he replied. “As much as I hate to say it, this definitely isn’t one of ours from the docks back at the mainland.”

“And… Is that a bad thing?”

“Normally, it wouldn’t be, but I recognize this particular kind of ship.” He said with a grim expression on his face. “Pirates, ever heard of those?”

“Well, yeah.” Claudia replied with a look of worry on her face. “I’ve read that they travel the seas and attack other ships that may have any valuables.”

“Not just the sea.” Lucas continued. “Sometimes, they’d even plan out and execute raids on some docks, stealing and killing when they deem necessary, which is always.”

“Were the docks your family owns attacked before?”

“Yes, but luckily for us, we are Ardent’s main docks and thus had proper security and were always able to thwart them with little damage to our own. But now they’re here, somehow, they reached this island which was supposed to be mythical.”

“It isn’t safe here.” He said. “We must find a place to hide.”

“Then, let’s return to the castle!” Claudia exclaimed, still worried. Lucas only nodded his head in disagreement.

“No, I don’t think we should. If they arrived here only today, it would make sense that they would go there themselves, after all, it is a castle without guards. It’s a good thing we had the wolves leave when they did, otherwise, things might get messy.”

“Now then.” Lucas continued. “Where’s the fastest route to the watchtower? That seems like our safest choice.”

“If we are to go there without passing through the castle, we’re going to have to pass by the woods.”

“Then, we’re doing that.” Lucas said. “Lead the way.”

Claudia nodded in agreement and walked in a separate direction from where they came from, with the watchtower in mind.

“Why didn’t we spot them at all today?” She asked while they were walking.

“Most likely because when we were on our way here, they headed towards where the village was, the path there is straightforward after all.” He answered. “I know because that’s also what I did. Did none of the animals warn you?”

“No, well, I never bothered to ask so I guess that one’s on me.”

“Now, now, don’t beat yourself up about it. Would it be possible for you to call their aid and notify us of the locations of any other people that might be here?”

“Yes, I can do that.”

“Now that I think about it, it’s also possible that there were no people who reached this island along with that ship, they could’ve abandoned it for all we know.” Lucas said.

“But we’re not taking our chances aren’t we?”

“Correct. Once we reach the watchtower, have some birds tell us if there’s anyone else in this island apart from us, don’t do it now though, it’s not safe.”

“Okay.” She replied meekly.