Chapter Seven: The Voyage (Part One)

Tough love is the kind of love you should expect from your father, but I never found out as a child that my Dad would deliberately put me in danger to make me strong.

On the day of our departure, thousands, if not more than a million citizens of ours came to see us off. It was a great celebration but alas, we stepped onto our ship and waved back at the crowd with smiles on our faces. According to my father, we will take three to four days to get to The Isles. Five if we make regular stops. Our ship was the best in the world. We call it The Royal One. The keel and hull of the ship were made with adamantite, a very expensive metal which is both light and firm. The figurehead looks like a Ligon, a very powerful dragon that looks like a lion but with wings. They are so powerful they can level cities and even countries with ease. Luckily, they can only be found on The Continent of Shen so the weak countries are safe as long as we don't let them out of our borders. To show how wealthy our empire is, we crafted the figurehead with shennian gold, a metal so steady that it wouldn't melt even when put in the core of the sun. Only certain Mitchells can mould this metal and I am far from being one. Shennian Gold, as its name implies can only be found on The Continent of Shen at a certain place that we call The Sacred Place of The Mitchells. Like the throne that my father sits on, our ship is the most valuable ship there is.

We all went to our respective cabins to rest but a while later, I came out to enjoy the view outside. The ship was moving very fast but there was a force field around the ship that dispersed the wind. When I came to the foredeck, I saw my parents enjoying themselves. I looked back at the maidservants who were following me and said; "Can you please let me explore the ship alone?"

"But-" all the maids said in unison. I am the second in rank when it comes to the power hierarchy in The Powstravian Empire. The only reason why I can not order them to stop following me is that it is part of our culture and it was also been enforced by my father.

"No buts. We are on a ship and there is nothing that I need you to do for me." They turned their heads to my father and he nodded majestically telling them to allow me to explore the ship alone.

When I left, my father turned to my mother and said; "The Tengu tribe will be attacking soon."

"Those fools? When will they learn? No... why did you let Strava wander off alone?" Mom asked looking a little disgusted at the beginning and worried at the end.

"Because they will only attack when they find that he is alone."

"But my Little Strava has lost his power. He will be defenceless.

"Don't worry love. I can run around the world a thousand times before they can even blink. "

My mother relaxed and said; "I'm sorry, I was just being paranoid."

"I know." Dad stood up, looked at the sun setting and said; "The sunset looks beautiful why don't we stop here and enjoy the sunset, my warrior queen?"

"That will be great my gallant emperor. We can throw a little competition into the mix."

"Woah, what competition will it be Your Highness?"

"A fishing competition but no magic."

Dad put his left hand behind him, brought his right hand in front of his chest, bowed a little and said to my mother; "As you wish Your Highness." He then let the captain stop the ship. After the ship stopped, Dad put his left hand behind him once more, walked to my mother and said pointing to the edge of the foredeck; "This way please, Milady."

My mother smiled and brought her right hand forward. Dad took her hand, helped her up and took her to the edge of the ship. They both looked down at the sea that was far below them and Dad snapped his fingers. The moment he snapped his fingers, a yacht appeared on the sea. Since the ship was far too big, it was impractical to fish on it. Hence, the reason he had to get a smaller ship and a luxurious one at that. Instead of flying down, they both jumped into the yacht. To not damage the yacht, they slowed down their descent and landed smoothly in the yacht. they each took from the yacht, a fishing rod. they then took from a bucket bate each and started fishing after they strung the bate on their fishing hook. The moment they started fishing Mom extended her spiritual sense to watch over me. Dad had a special ability for that. An ability called Argos. With this ability, Dad can see any and everything in the world if he so wishes, as such, he used Argos to watch over me.

A little farther ahead of the ship, a crow descended onto an iceberg and turned into a tengu. With him on the iceberg were more than one hundred tengu who were laying in wait to ambush the ship. The tengu who just arrived went to the captain of the suicide squad, the man who accepted the mission from Ashkan Akbar and said; "Captain, I have arrived" in their native tongue.

"Your report?" the captain asked.

"The emperor and queen have left the ship to fish. Although there are thousands of soldiers on the ship, most are below deck. The prince is exploring the ship alone."

"That's great, we just have to wait for him to get to an isolated area before attacking." The captain took from his pocket a communication scroll and activated it. The scroll connected him to a subordinate of his who was tailing the ship. He was the fastest in the suicide squad but even he couldn't keep up with the ship. he only started tailing the ship and luckily, the ship stopped. "Number 47, what is your status"

"I'm getting close to the ship, Sir."

"Maneuver your way unto the ship, find an isolated area and activate the teleportation talisman with you."

"Yes Sir"

When one joins the suicide squad, they give up their names after which they are referred to by numbers. Number 47 being the special tengu he is, instead of turning into a vulture or a crow turned into a falcon. He flew very high up and surveyed the ship. When he found the best place to land and hide, he swooped down with incredible speed.

Emperor Rava after seeing all that was going on smiled and sent a thought transmission to the captain of the ship.

"Ludra"

"Your Imperial Majesty."

"A few guests will be gracing our ship. Make sure to send some of your best men to protect my son but they shouldn't be too close. the rest of the soldiers can make themselves scarce on the deck. Also, they should pretend that they are weaker than the enemy when fighting."

"It shall be done as you command, Your Imperial Majesty."

For the first time in literally forever, I have been allowed the chance to walk alone with no maids or guards following me. I jolted away from my parents and started checking the ship out. Although I've been on the ship several times, this is the first time I am touring it by myself. 30 minutes passed yet I was nowhere near done touring the ship. The last time that I was on the ship, I saw certain statues at the back of the ship so I decided to take a closer look this time. There were a few soldiers around, but I don't mind as long as they are not following me. When I got to the ship's museum, I saw a statue of a handsome brawny man. I walked straight to the statue and saw written under it the name 'Late Emperor Mitchell Dmitra Jarvis'. Since I can not forget, all that I knew about him came flooding into my mind. Emperor Mitchell Dmitra Jarvis was the king who made the Shennian Kingdom into an empire that annexed The Lassav continent. Four thousand years ago, three nations from a certain continent came together and pulled their knowledge and resources together to create a ship strong enough to traverse the harsh oceans filled with fierce aquatic creatures that separated the continents. The ship was made such that it would repel the creatures of the ocean. They put a few of their elites on the ship and tasked them with finding other continents or islands. The three countries agreed that they would share whatever they would find. After several expeditions, the ship found its way to The Continent of Shen. When they came ashore, they found three inhabitants who they thought of as monsters and killed them. Unfortunately for them, this was reported to the ruler of the continent who loved all his citizens the same. Whether they are humans, demi-humans or monsters, he saw them all as his beloved citizens. As soon as he heard that the voyagers had murdered three of his citizens, he rushed to them, read their minds and massacred them after realizing the reason why they came to The Shennian Kingdom. He flew straight to their continent and made sure no one who knew about the expedition lived to see another day. He was about to leave the continent when he realized he had killed the ruling classes of the three nations. So he resolved to subjugate the three countries since he was well aware that a nation without its ruler will be plunged into chaos. He picked three of his trusted subordinates and named them the kings of the three nations he had conquered. In time the whole continent was conquered and the then emperor named the continent Lassav which means Subordinate.

As I was thinking about how great my ancestor was, I felt a heat source approaching my back. This was an inferno ball attack aimed at me by the tengu, who had found their way unto the ship.

TO BE CONTINUED