It was either the last breath of autumn or the first breeze of winter that was blowing over the deck of the Vigilantia as she sat ready to sail out from Stakkarun. The last bits of cargo were brought aboard as Nannade stood at the railing and watched the land lie there. It had recovered quite a bit in the mere two dozen days that she had observed it for her report, but now that job hers was done. The mages too were done cataloguing every bit of written information, every magic artefact, every ward and protection spell active in the keep.

Olly came up from below deck and embraced her from behind. They were prepared for a long time of separation, and both of them had to fight stern men to get their future dreams granted, but finally, Nannade had something to fight for other than her nebulous concept of freedom. Finally she wanted not just freedom, but freedom to achieve something, freedom for a purpose, not out of principle. She kissed him on the neck. “I love you.” She knew he was the one she wanted to heal her scars alongside.

“And I you too.”

They set out and Nannade sang her song, but just as on the land, few spirits answered and those that did, had little strength to help them. They were at the mercy of an unguided nature.

The professor had granted Olly his bunk in the berth for two. It was his last gift to Nannade. “You did an excellent job and I will send my letter of recommendation to the Lodge of Sturreland first thing when I return to my dry and warm office.”

As for Nannade's immediate future, Aaka had already filled her in. She’d await a transport from Northbridge all the way to Laeddunn, a city at the lake Anmorley, which lied at the northern border of Sturreland. She still had more than half a year of her banishment left and she wouldn’t be allowed inside Sturreland until then, not even for her trial, so the council of Laeddunn agreed to host the trial instead. She was worried about being judged again, but she was also awaiting it eagerly, to get out of this deal for now. At least until Northbridge she still had someone to distract her from all of that.

Nannade and Olly loved each other a last few times. Every falling asleep brought uncertainty with it, and every awakening alongside him was a smiling sunrise in her heart.

It was on the night of the third day of their travel back when Olly noticed a change in course amidst the rocking waves. They went on deck to look ahead and there in the distance she could see dark clouds alight with lightning. She asked the steersman and he replied that captain Christopherus’ had ordered him to take shelter behind the cliffs of Ulfnar's finger, a peninsula of Botrelandt, against the coming storms.

“That will take us further north! We need to go south to Ackarom!”

“You’re neither captain nor navigator, little girl.”

Soon the mages were called from their bunks on deck. The sea was getting rough. Nannade was called upon to soothe the spirits, but she could not find any.

“There are no spirits here. This is raw life force, wrought up by the corrupt life force that fled from Stakkarun, we’re heading right into the turbulent frontier.”

“Can’t you call upon your own spirit to protect us?” was all captain Christopherus’ answered.

“Ssil is not a spirit of weather. And even if. Any spirit would be a candle in the storm to come.”

The captain yelled commands to his men. The mages erected barriers as the wind picked up and rain lashed the deck. Olly was in charge of a huge light ahead of the ship illuminating the windswept sea ahead of them.

Nannade still wanted to help. She got to the railing, dug her claws into the soaked wood and held watch. She searched her pack for anything that could be of use, but when she found nothing, she closed it.

The storm seemed to cut their way to the cliffs off and hit them with its full force. The wind and thunder were deafening. The lightning strikes made even the shining light orb Olly held above them at the bow look like a shadow. Like the back of a mighty sea creature rising from its sleep, the waves shoved the ship around, a plaything on the waters, at the mercy of pure raw forces of nature in these godless waters.

Nannade had problems holding on, even the experienced men stumbled and fell on the deck, their bodies’ warmth in the cold stormlike hushing mice before a roaring lion, eager to devour them. She looked over to Olly many times, but his gaze was stern and fixed forward, to his duty, his lips hastily but confidently whispering incantations to focus on keeping the light high and bright.

From the distance Nannade saw a rippling glistening wall roll towards them, and when another lightning bolt struck close to them, tearing her hearing from her for a moment, she saw the wave in all its terrifying size, like the maw of a monster its crest already curled above them.

Olly and many other men let out a panicked cry, the mages ran to the starboard side of the ship to ready their spells. On the professor’s command, they unleashed a might blade of air that tore the sea apart.

The wave split before them, its spraying remains still hitting the deck and knocking a few to the ground. On the backflow of the shattered stream, the ship was tilted left and right and the water rushing in from the side threatened to pull the vessel under.

Nannade lost her balance and was flung away from the railing. She slid over the wet planks. Olly turned around and looked to her with a frightened face, but kept the orb of light alive. Nannade got up and smiled to ease his worry. She stayed with her claws close to the floorboards and crept towards the nearest rail to hold on.

In the distance, a dark cliff line was visible against the sky illuminated by lighting strikes. Their relative safety was close now, but they had to still weather much.

The ship made a sudden turn. Nannade looked over board and saw powerful currents shove the ship aside on their own course in disregard from the crew's hopes and goals, as if the monster of the sea had opened its mouth again and sucked them into its belly.

The steersman tried to keep the Vigilantia steady and forward, but even if the wind had played along, it was impossible. The mages cast more spells to stabilise the vessel, and for a while they were successful, but finally, their strength and endurance came to an end. Barrels of flux had been hauled on deck, but even those seemed like single drops in the storm they were fighting against.

So it came, that the monstrous sea sent another huge wave against them, and although Olly and the others spotted it much earlier and Alivor and his men cast another destructive blade, the wave seemed to just reassemble itself to smash against and upon the ship nonetheless.

The Vigilantia was thrown off once again, and this time, against something. A worrisome CREAK and a wet scraping, followed by a frightening CRACK and something gave way.

Nannade was thrown against the railing, bending over it in strain but clinging on, and in her horror, she saw a rocky tooth protruding from the sea and into the side of the ship, now acting as a fulcrum around which the ship turned.

Yells and cries were heard and more cracking followed as the water fell and the Vigilantia sank deeper onto the stone spire spearing her side.Nannade tried to run away, but the ship tilted over to her side and now the stone was coming for her, shearing the ship in two as it fell further down onto the widening rock.

“GET AWAY, GIRL!” she heard Aaka’s spectral voice.

The boards under her feet buckled and burst. She threw herself against a bit of railing behind her and dug her claws in deep.

“NA-NNA-DE!”

She could not tell who it was that was calling for her. She saw Olly lunging towards her, he had let the orb of light go, it flickered a few times before darkness crashed down upon the deck stronger than any of the waves had.Brightly glowing spheres enveloped the mages and the crew near them. One also appeared around Olly just as Nannade’s hold shifted further back and over the dark waters. She could almost feel the hard and glowingbarrier on her face, so close was it, and yet too far. The remains of the railing gave way and she plummeted off the deck.

In a last act of defiance, the glass jar on her belt got stuck between two planks and held her, dangling above the water and rock, not quickly rising back up to swallow her. But the leather strap with which the jar was tied to her belt was not meant to bear her weight.It snapped. She fell into the water.

“AAKA!”

She hit the surface and struggled back up, her hands sought anything to hold on to. The current sucked her away, she could not see anything. A bright shimmerwas visible above her.

“AAKA! OLLY!” She called out to anyone. She could see the spectral spec that was Aaka's spiritual body, and she was trying to do something, but it was irrelevant.

SWIM. The mind in the back of her mind tried to do it for her, but panic controlled her body and would not let go. She kept on thrashing around. Something must be there. She’d take the rocky spire as a hold. Something was there. Round and slippery, but her claws found hold. Was it a barrel? Maybe it was a barrel, it was something that floated. It gave her a moment to think. She looked around, but nothing to tell the Vigilantia apart from the blackness was visible anymore. The mages and the crew were safe in their spheres. She was out here, alone, drifting ever further away.