By the afternoon, smoke appeared on the horizon. It was faint at first, then it got thicker accompanied by faint cries carried by the wind.
Xior was the first to stand and narrow his gaze towards sothing in the distance. "There’s a ship," he said.
Sure enough, a larger vessel lood ahead. It was a battered galleon, its sails were torn and the deck scarred by fire.
Chaos reigned aboard the ship as figures clashed steel against steel, and above the din rose a single desperate cry cut through the air.
"Get your hands off !"
On the deck, surrounded by a dozen n, stood a girl in white robes. Her long hair was silver, her garnts were embroidered with gold threads.
She struggled against the n as her hands glowed with a faint light.
"There’s a girl, I think." Beatrice whispered to Xior.
Alice’s deanor changed, the smirk which she had while bickering with Becca was gone. "Not just a girl, those robes look royal. Xior dear, we have to help her." She pressed hard for Xior to intervene and save her.
The mutineers pressed her back towards the mast, one grabbed the robe and pulled it ripping it off from the side revealing her whole arm and parts of her abdon.
Another raised his knife to cut through the remaining clothes, she scread in desperation. She was scared, these dozen n would ravage her body and then kill her. If she was going to die in the end, she didn’t want to go through that ntal torture.
Xior vaulted from the barely intact boat and landed on the enemy deck with a crash. Wood splintered beneath him and in the sa motion his gauntlet closed the nearest sailor’s chest, crushing his ribs with a sickening crack.
The others shouted in alarm and raised their weapons but Becca and Alice were already on their heels. They leapt across the gap and as Becca cut through the first man on her way, Alice stabbed the tip of her spear in two others.
Beatrice raised her hands, black flas leapt up the deck and latched onto the sailors around the girl.
The robed girl seized her chance, her eyes blazed with conviction as she thrust out her palm. A burst of light erupted, blinding the traitors who had cornered her.
They stumbled back as they scread, clutching their eyes.
"Now!" Becca shouted.
Xior surged forward, cutting through their line. n fell before him like souls to the grim reaper’s scythe.
Within monts, the deck was clear, half the mutineers were dead and the rest either fled or were groveling for rcy.
The girl in white robes steadied herself and lifted her chin up proudly despite her ragged breaths.
"Thank you," she said, her voice clear and ringing. "I am ek of the Kingdom of Voltaris, daughter of King Orein and the heir to the kingdom.
Beatrice had seen the Tribal chiefs, although they led the Tribes they were not on the level of princesses, princes or a king.
Her eyes were full of awe, Alice tilted her head with curiosity. But Becca tightened the grip on her sword.
"A princess," Becca said flatly. "What’s a princess doing all the way here in the middle of nowhere?"
eka inclined her head. "I was betrayed by my own n." She gestured towards the bodies laying down on the deck.
"They sought to ransom to the rn after having their way with . But you...saved ."
Alice walked towards eka and took off her robe and covered her tattered robe showing her body.
She then patted her head like a mother does to her children, the cocky Alice was gone and the motherly Alice was back.
She had grown to love and care for children more after she was held as a slave in the Abyss and t Xior.
"So the royalty here plays these gas too? Politics, betrayal and mutiny....this all sounds familiar.
eka pressed her lips. "The kingdom is fractured. My father’s grip weakens day by day. His generals are making underhand deals with the rn, Dwarves and the Lich. Thankfully the Elves hate us so much that they would never accept any deal from humans." She said with a voice full of sorrow, her eyes swept the ruined ship.
"I was ant to rally allies but instead we got stranded in the middle of nowhere and....I was nearly devoured by my guard."
Beatrice stepped forward as if she felt similar to the princess, she too was left alone after Xior killed her sibling who at first tried to kill him.
"You’re kind of like ," she said softly. "Alone and left behind, but don’t worry. Big brother Xior will help you like he helped ."
eka’s gaze softened when the girl who looked to be an adult talked like a child, the tentacles covered her body like an armor.
For a mont the proud mask of a princess cracked and showed her real self. She reached out and brushed Beatrice’s shoulder gently. "Well that makes it the two of us, also you’re not alone like though."
Becca crossed her arms. "We don’t know you. For all we know is that you might turn on us next."
Alice smiled and looked at Becca, "relax dear. She doesn’t look bad as we got a ship upgrade."
Xior was silent and stood on the deck as the sea wind whipped at his coat. His eyes lingered on eka, unreadable and unsettling.
His black pupils made her take a few steps backwards as if he would devour her, the dozen n who looked at her with disgusting grins and eyes laced with lust were nothing in comparison to him.
They didn’t show a single emotion yet every atom of her being told her to not look into his eyes. They say when you gaze into the Abyss for too long the Abyss gazes back. Xior finally spoke.
"We will move forward, with or without her."
The princess t his gaze without flinching as he adjusted his gauntlet. "Then let prove I’m worth keeping."
The group stood on the bloodstained deck with the horizon stretching endlessly around them. Their old boat bobbed uselessly in the distance.
What would they encounter next was uncertain, dragons, kingdoms or the whispers on the waves.
But for the first ti since entering the eleventh floor, they might have a path to follow now and a new companion who might be crucial for later floors.
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