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The entire world was dead silent, all we heard were the sounds of sails and the surging waves of cold water hitting our ship. It began when the most notorious sea pirates in the country took hold of our King's vessel. And now, 200 of the bravest men in the land would have to sail through the Messodi sea for a rescue mission.
The Messodi Sea isn't called the "home of the unknown" for no reason. Legend has it that the most cruel sea demons reside in this part of the water, and they come out to hunt humans whenever they are stirred.
I never wanted to come for this mission because of the awful stories I had heard about this sea. But as one of the king's strongest soldiers, I was among the first 10 men selected for what I call "the adventure of no return".
"Dad, Mummy told me that some soldiers had been selected to go into that dangerous sea to rescue the king and his ship".- My 8-year-old daughter asked innocently.
"Yes darling, some of the brave warriors of the land had already been nominated for that".
"I hope you are not among them Dad?"
"No dearie, I am not among the selected soldiers, but I will be traveling to a faraway land tomorrow for some business." I lied even without thinking about it because I knew how distressed she would feel getting to know the truth about my departure.
The journey began on a moonless night when the sea sang siren songs of lost voyages. The largest warship in all of the Mogan dynasty was unleashed. The world had never seen her type before, surrounded with gun holes, she was the complete definition of a "warrior princess".
Everyone had gone onboard, but although I lied to my daughter, in a twist of fate, or perhaps misadventure, I found myself setting foot on its silent, ever-moving deck.
"Be on guard soldiers, we are about to enter the waters of Messodi" The Commander instructed.
Looking around, I could see the brave men of the land shivering and some even biting their fingers in fear. I began wondering if I was truly the only brave man on deck, but as I stretched my cup of tea towards my mouth, I realized I was shivering more than everyone else.
We had gotten to the middle of the Messodi Sea already, and nothing bad had happened. "This whole sea demon of a thing might just be another fairy tale or probably an irony," I thought to myself while lying on my bed. But just before I could even breathe a sigh of relief from my thoughts, I heard loud voices from the quarterdeck of the ship.
The voices became even more intense as it continued. I had turned off the lights in my room, but a little shade of light from the outside of the ship managed to penetrate through the side door into my room.
Laying on my back in the dark room, I could see the shadows of soldiers running past my door to the upper side of the ship where the voices were coming from. I reached out for my riffle that was under the bed, and like a scared dog facing his fears, I tip toe towards my door.
I held the handle of my door and listened attentively to what the voice was really about. I couldn't clearly hear the words, but the only thing I realized was my hands and legs shaking profusely.
I summoned the courage to open my door and as I tried to glance outside, it just happened that a soldier was running past my door to the front of the ship, I immediately staggered backward before realizing I was a soldier, who was supposed to be one of the bravest in the land.
I came out with my rifle and jogged towards the front of the ship where this whole noise was coming from. As I approached the scene, I realized it was just a fight between two senior officers on deck.
"I have respected you for too long, and am no longer taking any nonsense from you"
"How did I disrespect you, Lieutenant Mark?
"Why would you insult my wife? How dare you!"
"Silent! Silent every one of you" The Captain interrupted the uproar, as he shot to the sky.
"Ah, we are in the middle of the Messodi sea, you were not supposed to shoot at the sky!"- An old sergeant exclaimed holding his head.
"What do you mean by that?" The Captain asked arrogantly
"It is believed that the water demons are summoned by gunshots sir".
"To hell with you and your useless belief, Sergeant"...
The Captain had not even finished talking when we heard a loud bang on the front of the ship. The sound was like that of a crash between two airplanes.
Some of the men muscled themselves up from the ground to observe what had happened, but they were set back by the rushing flow of water into the ship. It seems we just got hit by an iceberg and in a few minutes we should all be drowned in this deep dark sea.
The experiences of my life from childhood flashed before my very eyes, and all I could think of was my innocent daughter waiting for me to return from my business trip. The ship was sinking very fast, and a majority of the people had already sunk with the lower part of the ship.
I had already given up to the cold hands of death, just waiting for the waters to cover my end of the ship. But just then, I saw reflections of light far off heading towards our direction.
"Help!, Help!!, Help!!!," some men waved their hands to the incoming ship, and shouted at the top of their voices, as they jumped into the water to swim forward. I threw my rifle and jumped into the water too, swimming towards the coming ship.
Everything seemed to become slow, as the ship took longer time to arrive than we calculated. I was so tired and just when I was about to stop swimming, a long rope was stretched to me from the ship that just arrived.
I had just been rescued alongside many other brave soldiers. To our greatest surprise, it was the king's vessel that came to our rescue.
"We were set free by the sea pirates just like that. Thank God you made it brave soldier" The king smiled as he greeted me on the ground.
My journey came to a close not with a dramatic storm or a battle against time, but with a sunrise that painted the world in hues of hope.
THE END
My entry for day 17 of the InLeo monthly prompt, organized by. You can check out the link here for participation.
