They all gathered near the mast, and blankets were thrown on the shoulders of those who jumped into the water. However, not everyone made it back to the ship. Three sailors had lost their lives, two devoured by those creatures and one drowning, his arms giving up before the safety boat could reach him.

Kristina gulped a bottle of the gold liquid. "I knew we didn't have enough rope," she muttered. "But..." Her eyes panned to Amaya, sitting close to Lach, and her features shrunk. The bottle clacked on the ground as she strode towards them. "What was that?" She eyed Amaya. "That thing that you did." Her eyes narrowed. "Was it witchcraft?"

"I-" Amaya started, her hand fidgeting with her pendant. "I don't really know."

"Kristina," Lach warned, still shivering despite the blanket muffling him.

"Hey!" Bett strode towards them, the blanket flying away from their shoulder. "It's not the time for that." Bett jerked their chin up, their eyes a challenge. "Be glad you are alive and let go." Amaya's eyebrows rose, and even Lach harbored a look of surprise. The crew were eying them, eyes weary but still sharp.

Kristina choked, saying, "Not all of us made it out alive." Her voice was as horrifying as the nightmare that they just lived, engraved in every part of their bodies. "Fine. I will let it go. For now." With a last glance, she stepped away, fetching her bottle and leaning against the mast.

"Thanks," Amaya mouthed at Bett. They nodded and left to sit next to Creinge, who handed her a bottle. Lach tremored like a leaf during a storm. "You are still cold." Amaya rubbed her palms on his shoulders.

"I am fine," he said through the blue of his lips, his neck pulled in like a turtle trying to hide.

"You need to drink something." Amaya got up, but Lach extracted a hand from his blanket fortress.

"Wait," Amaya observed his hand, and he removed it; the softness was still ghosting his skin when he said, cheeks flustered. "You said that you saw creatures, right." Amaya nodded, sitting back close to him. "That's not what I saw..."

"What did you see?" Amaya's eyebrows creased. "You had this smile and kept wanting to go in the water. You called my name." Lach's eyes jerked to her before they fell down. "I was next to you, but It was as if you didn't see me."

He stopped shivering. "I saw you in the water."

"Ugh? What do you mean you saw me in the water?"

Lach shook his head. "I saw you there. It was as if night had turned to day; the sun shone brightly as if the winter had never existed. You were into the crystal water, swimming like a dolphin." Lach remembered her smile and how her chuckle, wonderfulness dipped in honey, had traveled to him. "You were calling me. You wanted me to join you." And Lach was so thrilled, for Amaya was so enchanting and lovely; she had looked at him with so much admiration and lo-. He flustered again.

Amaya paused, thinking. "But it wasn't me. The whole time, I was trying to keep you from falling. What was in the water, it was those things..."

"You saw someone, too." Creinge hopped in the conversation, and Lach and Amaya jerked their face, not realizing they had an audience.

The rim of Kristina's bottle paused on her lips. "It was like a dream," Bett chimed in. "I saw the most beautiful woman in the water. She was smiling at me and calling me my name. It was as if I couldn't control myself."

"Who was that?" Creinge asked.

"I don't know. I had never seen her before." Bett stated with a shrug.

"Those creatures are malicious. They show you the person who is dearest to you." Lach's eyebrows jolted. He couldn't look at Amaya, for her gaze was burning through him with thousands of questions. Kristina's hand tensed against the bottle. "That is why you want to follow them into the water," Creinge said before her face turned somber, "I saw someone dear to me too, but they had been long dead," they tightened their grip on a bottle before taking a gulp.

"Who did you see, Kristina?" Another sailor asked, and her bottle lowered.

"Nothing worth mentioning," She glanced at Lach. She fetched another bottle before going up the upper deck, the bottle dangling from her black-painted finger. Lach followed her steps.

"You should talk to her," she said, and Lach was surprised by her words. Still, he knew she was right even though he had no will to do it. He nodded. He would talk to her later. "Did you really see me?"

Lach found Amaya's gaze and thought his cheeks burned. It was too late to deny it. "I did." His words were shameful, as if he admitted to doing something unholy, forbidden.

"I see," Amaya's cheeks flustering.

The silence lengthened awkwardly, and if it continued, Lach's embarrassment would consumed like fire, so he asked, "You chased them away?" Amaya nodded. "And when I was in the water-" she nodded again. "How?" Lach asked at last.

"I don't know. All I know that is that when I touch it and feel I am in danger, heat surges into me."

That was when Lach noticed the burn on her skin. He gasped. "What happened."

She felt the bump on her skin. "It never happened before. But I believed it happened because my pendant was fighting through the creature's control; they were trying to get in my head. But it didn't let them." There was concern on Lach's gaze. "But I am unharmed."

At last, a smile cracked on his lips. "You saved us, Amaya."

**

Later, when the shock had worn off, and half of the bottles were gone, Lach went to the upper deck. He wasn't shivering anymore and wore his boots and tunic, but a blanket still cloaked him.

Kristina was turning the wheel, her eyes straight, as if Lach was a mere background object. He sighed, knowing already how this conversation would turn, but still, he needed to know. "What did you see, Kristina?"

The woman snarled, and her grip tightened on the steering wheel. Her other hand is busy with the bottle. "Not your business," she said before taking a gulp. "Not anymore, anyway," she grumbled before letting out a dry chuckle. Something she did when Lach caught her lying.

"You saw me."

The woman jerked her head to him. "You really think you are all that, ugh?" she scoffed, glaring at him. She perhaps believed that if she stared hard enough, Lach would melt to the ground and disappear from her life completely.

"Then who was?" Lach crossed his arms. She wasn't fooling him.

The woman shrunk her nose. "I saw you, alright?! Are you happy now? Is it what you wanted to hear?" she rolled her eyes and took a gulp.

Lach stared, shock written on his face, even though somehow he knew. "I thought that-"

"You thought wrong." The woman scoffed. "Sun God, you are still so bad at figuring women out."

"And you are still so bad at talking about your real feelings."

Kristina paused and glared at him. "I don't know how to talk about my feelings?" She pointed to herself. "I told you everything, Lach!" hurt poured from her voice, breaking like a dam that had contained raging water for too long. "I asked you to come with me! You are the one who gave up on me." She shook her head, her eyes glassy. "You weren't brave, Lach."

Lach's heart sank. "Kristina...You know why I did that." It hadn't been an easy decision. After all, he did love Kristina. He remembered seeing her for the first time and how esteemed he was of her, her determination, her freedom, and her nonchalance in pursuing what she loved without care. But he wasn't like her. Yes, he wasn't brave enough.

"You saw her." She said with a tight chuckle. "You saw this girl."

Lach's lips tightened. "Kristina."

"Stop saying my name like this," Lach didn't know what she was talking about. "Like you still care." Her voice broke. A fissure.

"Because I do care," Lach approached. He still cared and would always care for her. "You are the one who didn't want to see me again-"

"Do you remember what you said when I asked you to come with me traveling the seas?" Her eyes were fixed on the waking horizon, the orange clouds pushing through the darkness. With the soft light of the waking sun, Lach could see the redness of her eyes.

He nodded. "I told you I couldn't leave my mom and Elson."

Kristina nodded. "I felt awful after that. I realized it was pretty much a selfish request. I couldn't let you leave your family like that just for me. But inside of me, I wished you could have done that." She gazed at him, eyes glassy and Lach's inside twisted. He couldn't do it. He couldn't let his family that needed him the most, so he let her go, and Kristina didn't cry nor scream; she looked him dead in the eye and told him she would cut his ears if he ever came near her ever again. He saw the anger, resentment, and pain through the stoic mask. "But you followed her," she said with a tight smile, her gaze traveling to the bow where Amaya stood, facing the horizon. Lach's heart was constricted.

This is different," He stated, and his voice rang like a lie.

And Kristina was too astute for that. "Is it?" she asked; it was stark, like a fact. Lach's mouth closed. And Kristina's shoulders deflated. "Creinge!" she yelled, "Replace me." She passed next to Lach without another glance.

"Kristina, wait-" he said weakly, but she was already gone.

**

The sun slid higher in the sky, glaring and observing. The clouds had departed, and the silhouette of the rocky jutty island shaped on the horizon.

Amaya's eyes flickered with awe. "I think we are there," Lach said.

Up the upper deck, Kristina murmured to herself. "Welcome to Keso."

As they approached, the water cleared like a river spring, and the greenery of the place was blooming and vivid. The sickening mist and the sticking cold were gone like a relief after a nightmare, as if the winter curse hadn't tainted the island.

The ship stopped just before the rocky shores, and the machinery of the anchor rasped as it heaved down. Safety boats carried the crew to the shingle beach. Amaya's mouth was agape from the time she left to the ship to the moment her boots crunched against the smooth tiny rocks, smoothened by the waves over time. She gripped one and was startled by its heat. She let it go and observed the giant odd trees around them. If she could call them that. The trunks were large and reaching for the sun, with tuft full of long large leaves at the top.

She moved the middle of the beach as if to take in her surroundings completely. Lach observed her from the boat he helped attach, his eyes squinting from the glaring sunlight. He shielded them and inhaled deeply, his tunic sticking heavily to his skin, something that hadn't happened in years. It looked like a paradise on earth, and Lach fought something bitter in him that this had been taken away from them. But as he watched Amaya, her appeased look as the sun kissed her to gold, her smile the beauty of the sun itself, that feeling thawed, leaving with a fullness of his chest that took his breath away.

The sailors carried boxes and materials for tents to the beach. "We will wait for you here," Kristina said, and Lach hadn't realized she moved next to him. She removed her hat and fanned herself with it. "We are going to establish a camp here."

"Thank you," Lach said, and he wanted to say more, but Kristina's features still creased upon looking at him, so he moved away and helped with the boxes.

Kristina inhaled deeply. "Kristina." She jerked her face to Amaya, her eyes narrowed slightly. "Thank you for bringing us here."

Kristina shrugged. "I said I would do it."

Amaya fidgeted with a piece of her dress, the fabric feeling rougher on the island. "Why did it end with a Lach?" Amaya almost regretted asking the question, for bitterness spread on Kristina's face.

Kristina stared her up and down. "What does it matter to you?"

It caught her by surprise. "Because I want to understand him," she glanced at Lach as he heaved down a box, sweat plastering his hair. "I can't quite figure him out. He would say one thing and then do something else."

A dry chuckle. "Typical." She leaned on the small boat. "You only need to know that Lach only cares about himself and his family." She was smiling, but her words were laced with resentment. "Whatever you want from him. He won't give it to you. He is unable to." Her voice faltered at last.

"Oh..."

"Let it go, girl. It's not worth it." Kristina turned around, heaving a bag from the boat. End of the conversation.

Lach, Bett, and Amaya left the fussing beach and entered the thick forest. However, Kristina's words were still ringing in her head so much that Amaya barely took time to observe the wild and vibrant plants interlacing with each other and the giant myriad of flowers competing with the trees to get sunlight. That place was in full bloom. She observed the pure wonder look on Lach's face and let go of that tightness pulling down in her stomach.

Amaya's foot cracked something, and her eyes went wide. A splintering white bone, long enough to belong to a leg. Her own bones chilled. "Lach." The man jerked his face to her, and his eyebrows jolted up. They circled the bone. "Do you think it's human?"

Bett's eyes narrowed. "It is. Those barbarians..." they spat.

Lach's features tensed. "We must be careful and stay together," he said. "We don't know these people and what they are capable of."

The sun had lost its glare, and their legs were aching by the time they came upon a clearing full of tents, cattle, and people. They stopped just under the shades of plants still belonging to the tropical forest.

Lach noticed steel chariots agglomerated to the sides. "These are from the soldiers."

Bett's eyes intensified as they gripped their axes. "The cowards. Seems like they have it well here."

Amaya's eyes fell on their grip. "They might help us find the Favor."

"Yes. If you want to be stripped of all your belongings," Bett snapped back.

"You are too paranoid," Lach interjected. "Not everyone is like you, Bett."

"And you are too naïve." The blue of their eyes was sharp, humorless.

Something shifted behind them, and Amaya's wrist was gripped before Bett could lift their axe. She fell upon two globular eyes like a gecko. She startled, gasped, and broke away from the grip.

"What are you doing here?" The man or a boy- probably- asked. Like the island trees, a tuft of curly red hair stuck out from his head. He had freckles of the same color on his young, untouched skin, and a wood stick pointed at the trio like a sword. It was supposed to be threatening, but he emanated the same energy of an angry puppy, all barking but no bites. Lach crossed his arms, an unimpressed look on.

He launched forward with a roar, but he only made one step before his foot got tangled into a wild plant before falling down on his stomach, the stick landing a few feet away. Amaya made a face like a grimace, and Bett grabbed the stick.

"Hey, give me my weapon back!" He barked, but Bett's face stayed as stoic as a rock. The boy swallowed thickly, fear filling his features still. He kept barking. "I will kill you! Feed you to the jagua-"

A flash of blond hair, and soon enough, the boy's collar crumpled under the hunter's tight grip. All the bravery had drained down from his face, which was now the same color as the moon. "Feed me to what?" Bett hissed and yanked him closer to their snarl.

The boy's pleading gaze found Lach. "Shouldn't have said that. They can be a bit aggressive," Lach said, shrugging.

The fiery curly head narrowed his eyes. "To the jaguars!" he spat, and for a moment, everything went silent as if even the forest braced itself for what was to come. Lach and Amaya gave each other a sorry look before Bett grunted and threw the man away like a ragdoll.

His scream traveled with him before he landed with a loud thud on the ground.

"I warned you." Lach shook his head. The boy flinched when Bett stomped closer.

They yanked him up on his feet. "Take us to your camp." The young man nodded hastily, his lips trembling.

The people wandering around the tents gathered immediately upon seeing new faces. They watched in horror as the young man was dragged by his collar by a short ball of blond fury.

"Arthur? What happened? Who are these people? "A woman demanded, grabbing a wandering baby next to her and pressing it close to her chest. The strangers stood alert as they surrounded them, eyes narrowing.

"I don't know who they are, mama." The man whined, and Bett rolled their eyes before tightening their grip.

Lach raised his hands in surrender, "We are only passersby. We aren't here to bother you. We are on a quest, and we need help."

"You dare ask for help while you are threatening my brother!" Another young man pushed himself out of the crowd, his hair as ablaze as the boy Bett was dragging. His features were the same, though his eyes weren't as protruding, his features more subtle and mature. "Let it him go!"

Bett scowled. "He was the one threatening us with his wood stick!" The young man hung his head in shame. The crowd gasped.

Lach scooted closer to Bett. "I think you should let us do the talking." He whispered, and Bett groaned.

Amaya stepped up. "We don't want you any arm." Her eyes traveled to the tensed crowd. "We just want help."

"Help for what?!" A man screamed from the crowd.

"The Favor."

The crowd gasped, and scoffing whispers bounced all around them. Even the boy looked at them like fools.

"Your quest is not our problem! Especially these kinds of quests!" The boy's brother yelled, and the crowd echoed in agreement.

"Get away from here!"

"Strangers are not welcome!"

"Leave this Island!"

The crowd tightened around them, the look in their eyes far from welcoming, and Amaya backed away slowly. Lach's shoulders pressed against hers, and even Bett took a few steps back.

They were coming close, too close.