- THE ESCAPE BEFORE THE SUN RISES-

After that encounter with that old man, Darius was still thinking of what the man's advice had meant for them. Surely that the old man was just drunk and doesn't really know what Gryndale had in store. But when he saw how he had become pretty sober, Darius was still uncertain.

Aloysius had remain bothered in his seat, thinking the same thing as his captain. Darius and he had exchanged glances and both had decided to talk about it — trying to piece everything together without letting Fang overheard them.

They knew that the walls had ears so they made sure to lower their voices in order to not catch attention.

"What do you think that old man was hinting at, captain?" Aloysius had started as Darius only crossed his arms before putting his leg up in a figure four position. He wasn't that sure if the old man was in the right mind but it was safe to say to be cautious, Darius thought.

"He said that we should be careful with what lurks in the city and the sea of Gryndale," Darius mumbled to himself before trying to answer Aloysius. "I'm thinking that the waters were probably strong in that area. I've heard that the currents there might take down a ship if not controlled properly."

"But he said something the city and sea being alive and swallowing his crew whole. Captain, do you really think that such an old man would talk about the ocean being alive?" Aloysius corrected as Darius only sighed, trying to think of other meanings that the man may have meant.

There was no way that the one who once led a crew to Gyndale would take about the ocean current being strong and term it as 'alive' for other sailors. Something must be there with them. It may not be only the waves pushing them, but something under those waters.

"We set sail tomorrow," Darius stated as Aloysius only eyed him with worry in his eyes. "No matter what Fang has to say, we will arrive in Gryndale."

"They've raised all the alarms, captain. There is no way we could sail tomorrow morning." Darius had then assumed that it was Ophelia's order to bring them back to Ravenbourne after the shipment has been done. Everfrost indeed have their eyes on the city, he thought. The reason why they had been banning Ravenbourne sailors is that they knew that their city was the best one to sail along the strongest currents.

The Angelus was once a ship of Everfrost and their people know that the Medusa was the second strongest ship. The Medusa had sailed even in a storm without any damage taken — wherein the Angelus' boards had to be repaired for it to set sail once more. Sadly, the trip to the Regimere of the Angelus was the last of its ventures.

If ever Everfrost did get the treasure, it would surely get recognized more than Arkenheilm. Maybe that was the reason why the city had been trying to stall them, Darius assumed.

Both of them then heard someone knocking over the door so they decided to be silent about the matter. As soon as the door had opened, they both saw Calista with a confused look on her face. They then sighed in relief as Calista sat on the bed and looked at both of them with a raised eyebrow.

"You two are still awake?" she asked as Darius and Aloysius decided to pack to escape this place as soon as possible. They knew that there are only a few guards at night rather than by day and that they can surely set sail if ever the ship is ready.

If the sun rises, Darius knew that there is a possibility that the guards would question them even further.

"We have to leave before the sun goes up," Darius had told them before throwing the bag over to Aloysius. Calista looked shocked at what she had heard. Her eyes were wide as Aloysius had gotten out of the door to call the other sailors.

Before Calista could even question him further about this, Darius had already answered what was on her mind. "Fang's been hiding something from us."

"And it seems that your sister's been playing the part. love," Darius had told her before pecking her cheek and telling her to get her belongings. Calista, however, was truly confused about what he was saying.

Calista knew that they were only delivering shipments and going to the Regimere. But, she never knew what goes after that travel.

"Darius, what do you mean about my sister?" This was the first question that Calista had tried to ask before she had grabbed her stuff and followed her lover — who was already going down the stairs.

"I'll answer once we're on the ship, love." After that, Darius and Aloysius had gone down the stairs, only to come face to face with Fang himself. He wasn't talking, however, he only sat on the counter with a bottle in his hands. The old man was already gone by the time they had been there.

Fang's eyes suddenly glanced in Darius' direction and immediately threw a dagger at them — missing them by such little space. The dagger got stuck on the wallboard and Aloysius quickly put himself in front of his captain. He knew that this man was already drunk — a reason for his aggressiveness.

"Just where do you think you're going? All of you ain't going nowhere," Fang had started off, trying to block their path the best that he can and even glared deadly at the sailors who were right at the stairs.

"I knew it," Darius had mumbled before walking down, pushing Aloysius a bit to the side before he approached Fang. The innkeeper, however, assumed that he was going to attack him, which made him raise his bottle and tries to smash it to Darius — only for the captain to dodge this and counterattack him.

He then stole the bottle from Fang's grasp and smash it on him instead, making the man unconscious.

Everyone gasped at their captain's action as Darius only nods in the direction of the door. "Let's go. Time's wasting. We don't want the sun to catch up."