“ Just , Who Was The Person In My Dreams? ”

The days were long and Brytos felt himself growing tired by the minute, he reckoned their ships are a week away. He felt guilty leaving his brother in that state, but this felt right, he needed someone to take him out of that influence. And whoever it was, they were not in Carnelia.

During his endless days of flight, he was seeing nothing but the ocean.

"Why is it so far?!" he groaned out.

He looked straight ahead, afraid that if he so much turn or blink, or even worse— blinked and turned, he'd lose his sense of direction, which was probably what they intended with this vast amount of endless blue nothingness. He wasn't going to lie, it was a very effective way to have someone lose their mind.

Just as he was about to rest and heat a bit of ocean water for his thirst, something shot at him from below, surprising him. He barely dodged the next one, it propelled him to the side, and soon he found himself trapped between the waters, unable to get out no matter how hard he tried. He struggled to breathe for a few seconds before the water was forced out of his mouth.

He took in a large breath of air, but it was difficult to do. That was when he noticed that he was still in the waters, or rather in a bubble of water. There were swords pointed at him from below, they wore fully-fledged silvery ice armor, and they didn't look too happy to see him. But he, despite his current predicament, was relieved to see people.

"I surrender," he said but their swords remained pointed at him.

Then they made way for someone, she wore a different armor than the rest and her sword shone brighter, she stared him down, eyes sharp and unforgiving. Then she turned to one of the men but he couldn't hear a thing she said. She waved her hand and he felt the fresh air once again, his whole body was trapped, except for his head.

"Are you alone?" she asked.

"No," the knights drew swords closer at him, so he continued, "There's a fleet only a few days away, I need to talk to someone close to the Stone itself, the King would do."

There was an amused laugh among the knights, but she wasn't smiling, at all, which shut them all up. Her steps were hard against the wooden deck as she approached closer to him. The water bubble lowered down to her level, which was an odd feeling, being inside a bubble. She narrowed her eyes and reached for the hilt of her sword but not before asking in the most suspicious tone,

"And why should I let a Carnelian like you live to see another day?"

The tip of her sword pricked his neck and if his skin were normal, it would've drawn blood that would spread to his water entrapment. He tried to move away but it was futile, his head could only reach back so much, and he felt annoyed at the poking sensation. But he tried to be polite, understanding that he wasn't in the best position to make himself trustworthy.

"Because the King of Carnelian is on his way right now, he's under the influence of the Stone and I don't think anyone else could face him in equal standing, and that… I could help," he said, which was true, he'd seen how fast he defeated that giant, he doesn't think his brother could've done so in his normal state, he prayed that his plan would work.

Before she could respond, a knight walked up to her with a bird on his shoulder, he handed her a letter before leaving. She tore it open, her eyes skidding across the page, before letting out a sigh. She looked him dead straight in the eye before turning away and leaving, "Lock him away,"

The water covered his whole body before he could protest, he couldn't conjure up his flames with the lack of oxygen, no matter how hard he tried. He felt himself losing consciousness before finally succumbing to sleep.