Dwellers of the New World Chapter Twelve ( Pt 6 ) Dangerous Zones

~~The Flying Fish had been at sea for three days and two nights without any problems.  It was coming to the end of the third day,  when Bracus decided to let the children come up on deck for some air. 

He stared out to across the ocean with trepidation.  Scratching his head,  his greasy hair tied back,  he realised they would soon be entering the acid zone and knew that  travelling by night through these waters was the only way to go,  but it would be dangerous and no mercy would be shown to those trapped.

Cinnamon stood with the young boy Will she'd befriended,  not once did he leave her side,  feeling the comfort of a mother figure was all that kept the boy from crying again.  Holding his hand, Cinnamon wondered about her family and what they would be thinking of her for disappearing.  She also thought about Dawson and wondered if he was okay, hopefully it wouldn't be too long before they reached the Island and Varden would have some idea of where to find him,  one thing was for sure, soon they would need to reach land. 

Taking the boy's hand and walking up and down the deck,  the boy stared up at the girl without saying much at all,  Cinnamon smiled at him and squeezed his hand for reassurance,  letting him know she would be there for him.

As darkness approached,  the sky turned a murky,  greyish green with clouds threatening to burst open at any given moment.  It would not be a clear sky that night,  no stars or moon to guide the ship,  but Bracus had no worries on that score,  he was a master at sailing and knew the way without a navigation aid,  which would normally be critical in these conditions. 

The main crew couldn't really do anything except keep their eyes on the weather.  If it should change to a storm,  then all hands would be needed on deck.

There weren't any strong gales at present and Bracus needed a drink,  but decided against it, keeping a clear head was the most important reason not to.  He also had a feeling, that there was a good chance they would come up against the giant drip worms that lived in the acid zone,  so named because of their acid tongues that could throw out a burning fluid,  the crew would need to be on their guard. Normally these creatures stayed at the bottom of the ocean, sleeping during the hours of darkness,  which was why Bracus was waiting for nightfall before entering the zone.

Giving the orders for the children to be sent below once more,  they'd travelled quite a way,  Bracus was pleased with the Flying Fish, she had almost flown across the Ocean,  as her name suggested and they were making good time.

Once again below the children had misery on their minds, wishing they could run free and be with their families once more,  even Cinnamon felt down and missed her family,  there was barely enough room to move around down below and the children were stiff from sitting for so long. 

Ben and Jay were up on deck talking about Fern and Netty and wondering how they were getting on.  It seemed so long since they had been with their family,  although Jay was used to long periods away from his sister. Ben was desperately missing Fern and his daughter,  this was the longest time he'd been away from them.  “I hope we find your parents sooner than later Jay,”  said Ben staring out to sea.

“I hope so too,”  replied Jay.  “Though we don't know how big the Island is and where exactly they'll be when we get there.” 

“Someone's bound to know where they are,  if we ask when we get there,”  declared Ben, who also wondered  how their horses were doing without the two of them,  but Anna and Devin who they'd left them with,  seemed like a nice couple and he was sure that Rainbow and Bracken would be fine and probably spoilt rotten.  Ben grinned as he pictured them pulling the cart up to the food plantation...he thought they must be used to pulling heavy loads by now.

Time seemed to stand still out on the ocean,  with too much of it,  thinking was all they could do.  As they were deep in conversation,  Varden approached them with a message from Bracus.  “Hey...you two! Bracus is concerned that you're not down below with the others.  He says nobody should be up here on deck,  it's very dangerous at night,  especially with the sky looking so threatening.”

Both men looked at one another wondering what kind of dangers lurked.  “We just came up for some air,”  replied Ben.

“How are you holding up Varden?”   whispered Jay,  so as he wouldn't be heard by anyone.

“Oh...not to bad,”  the boy replied.   “But I'll be glad when we hit land,  the ocean is not the best of places to be...there are so many dangers out here,  but luckily Bracus is in control,  he knows the ocean so well and also where all the dangers lie. Even though he's a bad man,  he would never let anything happen to his ship and crew,  they're all too precious.”

A rock stood out of the water like a huge stalagmite pointing towards the sky.  “What's that huge boulder sticking out of the sea?”  asked Ben as they headed below. 

“That's death rock...a very dangerous area to be in,”  replied Varden.  “There are some deadly giant worm creatures that spit acid at you,  but they sleep during the night.  I've never seen one myself,  but many of my friends have seen them,  they're quite scary and don't like ships entering their domain.”

“Let's hope they stay asleep then,”  uttered Ben,  feeling quite unsettled at the thought of coming up against these creatures.  He wondered why anyone would want to be out on the ocean,  with so many strange and dangerous living things lurking in the waters.

Bracus gathered his men together,  knowing that they would be entering the acid zone very soon.

“Now men...you know what's coming,  so I want you to be prepared,  we don't wanna loose anyone,  those drip worms are down there,  maybe they be sleeping but we can't be sure.  It ain't quite dark enough to enter yet,  so keep calm and stay in control...you all know to be alert at all times.”

All the men stood around the edge of the deck on all sides, nervous and anxiously staring into the Ocean,  watching for any movement.  Each man tried not to show any fear at the thought of facing these creatures,  though inside they trembled.

Dwellers of the New World Chapter Twelve ( Pt 7 ) The Beast in the Storm | ABCtales