BXBX NOVEL Chapter 238: Boat of the Skies
"Is that...a boat?"
At the border between Icor and Ferelden, many soldiers lifted their heads, looking to the night sky where something weird just appeared, their eyes opening wider.
Because of the distance, in their eyes, the shape of the ice boat was not very clear. But suddenly there was a silhouette that was emanating light, and that was enough to gain their attention.
Both sides had sentries and they raised their telescopes, looking at everything.
Only to see, an ice blue boat, looking as though it was riding the clouds, and in the darkness it looked particularly garish. Through the magnification of the telescope, the steeple, the sails...every single detail, slowly appeared to the sentinels. At that moment, they even wondered if they were looking at a crystal carved sculpture.
But...the sentries revealed an inconceivable expression on their faces.
There was a boat in the sky!
They were even suspecting whether they were hallucinating. The patrol guards also came over, and took over the telescope, and took their turn to watch the ice boat. Every single guard that took a look, with stunned looks on their faces, gazed at the shadow in the night sky. Some were talking to themselves, some had their hands together, as though they wanted to start praying.
There was a crystal-like boat in the sky.
What does it mean?
The guards could not understand. This was something completely different from the magic that they have seen, and so, they didn’t even think that it was magic, and in a daze, thought that they were witnesses to a miracle.
Very quickly, everyone raised their heads, and looked towards the blue shadow in the sky. They thought that the boat had prepared some magic that they could not even turn their eyes away, as though, if they blinked, the boat will turn to mist, and disappear from the cloud filled sky.
Is this really a miracle?
Where did it come from? What kind of people lived on that boat? What kind of people could make a boat that flew, could it be...there was another world that lived in the skies?
For a moment, the guards could not help but imagine,
"It’s moving!" Suddenly, somebody noticed something and yelled.
Only to see, the boat that was floating silently, was starting to move.
Another guard took the telescope, and look through it more carefully, and very quickly, he looked as though he made a great discovery, he took a deep breath, and said disbelievingly: "Wait...there is something moving on it!"
In his eyes, this miraculous boat, was surrounded by a weird black shadow.
Looking carefully, the number of shadows wasn’t very much, looking more like smoke or a group of birds. They surrounded the ice boat, like some weird bondservant, not daring to move too near, but refused to leave either, using their own way to follow this unimaginable boat.
At that moment, the impression that the iceboat gave them was becoming more mysterious...or evil.
A boat that was surrounded by a weird black shadow suddenly appeared on this dark night, and hovered slowly above the borders of the two countries.
What does this mean?
Then, when more and more attention is being taken away, suddenly, the ice boat in the night sky went through another change.
Like someone who was drunk, something that was calm and peaceful was being shaken, moreover...there was a kind of feeling like he was being turned over and over again. Correspondingly, the speed that it was flying also became quicker, like a cat that was kicked, would in its panic, run off somewhere far away.
The patrol guards at the border stood transfixed.
Not knowing why, at that moment, they suddenly had a moment when their trance-like state was broken. Like an angel in the sky that suddenly turned its back on them.
Like a mouthful of old blood stuck in the throat, the expressions on the patrol guards of the two countries, was never as dumbstruck as how they looked this day.
And so, under their perplexed gazes, the ice boat in the sky moved, and after a moment, slowly disappeared from their sight, and it could not be seen anymore.
Only then did some of the soldiers realized, pointing towards the direction where the ice boat disappeared, yelling, "Isn’t... isn’t that the Valley of the Abyss?"
At that moment, the other soldiers also came to their senses with the same shocked expression.
Of course, everything that was happening at the borders garrisons, far away in the ice boat, Benjamin and his crew did not know anything about.
From the start, the moment the ice boat was exposed, Benjamin was a little stunned. Without question, all of the guard’s eyes would be on them, although he did not know where their train of thought would go, but in a pessimistic point of view, Benjamin felt as though his journey would be exposed.
This is it...
"Teacher Benjamin." At that moment, Frank who was standing to the side could not keep his mouth shut and said: "As illegal immigrants, are we being a little too high profile?"
The mages thought that Benjamin was doing all of this on purpose.
When he heard this, Benjamin was dumbfounded. But, there was no point in thinking about these things. At that moment, it didn’t matter if it was wisdom or knowledge, everything was telling him the same thing – to run.
So, he came to his senses, with no time to complain about anything else, he took control of the ice boat and hurried in the other direction. And, to them, the speed the ice boat was going was still a little too slow. Even though the bat-like magical creatures did not grab on or attack, but they were still following them. At the same time, the firelights at the borders moved. To get out of the patrol guard’s line of sight may not be that easy.
And so, after flying for a while, Benjamin decided to increase the speed.
To increase the speed, was the same as when they were driving the boat.
All the mages were chanting spells, to use magic related to wind, to move the ice boat forward faster. However, the ice boat was in the sky, its structure was unlike a real ship, with so many powers trying to control it, it was difficult to maintain its stability. As a result, while the speed was faster, but the ice boat was also swaying from left to right, and almost did a loop de loop.
And so, Benjamin felt as though he was on a roller coaster, the scary, heart racing kind.
The mages on the boat didn’t last long before fainting, unable to continue maintaining the magic, but with inertia, the boat was still moving like a shoe that had been thrown. Benjamin could not control the flight path, and so, as the ice boat flew forward, it also began to lose its altitude.
Even though he was thrown around and felt dizzy, he was very sure, that if they continued on like this, the boat was going down.
So, after the bat-like magical creatures were shaken off, Benjamin canceled out the magic, the large ice boat, disappeared like a mirage from the sky. Benjamin and the others started to fall, while the bat-like magical creatures wanted to give chase, but they really hated the low altitude, after pursuing them for a while, they quickly wanted to leave the country there.
In the air, dropping to the ground in a straight line, Benjamin felt the roller coaster feeling changed to a feeling you get when you jump out of a building. Seeing the other mages who were freefalling, he quickly chanted a few spells, conjuring steam, trying to reduce the speed they were falling at, in the end, managed to hold up everyone and the scattered luggage.
And so, Benjamin observed his surroundings.
The free falling ice boat brought them past the border into Ferelden. Where they were at now, the border patrol would not be able to follow them here. So, he silently relaxed, used up the remaining spiritual energy, with everyone’s help, he slowly lowered down to the ground.
Making sure that everything and everyone was there, Benjamin raised his head and looked around at his surroundings.
The forest had an eerie feel to it, as they were falling they went through a number of tree boughs. From what he saw as they were falling, it was as though they were in a valley in Ferelden.
A valley full of dense trees...
"Where are we?" Benjamin asked the System in his mind.
The System said: "A place called the Valley of the Abyss.