I turned to Koke, but he was no help.
"It would be as good a spot as any to be Sis."
I looked back to the Captain and nodded. He saluted and headed for the boat that had brought him and his officers ashore.
I gave Koke a brief hug, which he returned to the extent that I thought he was about to crack my ribs. The strength of his hug helped to express without words what needed to be said. There was no time for words anyway.
I turned from Koke and caught up with the Captain's boat as two sailors started pushing it into the surf.
*****
Koke watched his sister for a moment as he said a prayer of his own. He turned from the retreating boat to head for the other shore where he walked into the waves and was soon gone from view.
*****
"That'll do boys! Heave the old brig still!" Captain Sally barked out.
The old galley came to a sluggish stop. The crew glanced among themselves at a loss over what had possessed the Captain to stop here of all places. All they saw was open water all around with not even the hint of an island on the horizon. The sea was empty.
Captain Sally shook her head at their looks of consternation. They were as stupid as she had been once, but no more!
She felt alive with the secret hidden knowledge that had blossomed within her. Stupid or not she needed the crew to cooperate and help her. The scroll had told her that she could expect direct interference from the Sea People and possibly others.
Captain Sally stretched her hands out to the water and spoke the dark words of the scroll.
As the words formed out past her lips they seemed to burn through her heart. Instead of sensing further loss of spirit all she felt was the promise of the power that the words would bring.
The words had been said and glancing around, Captain Sally saw that her villainous crew was impressed as they'd never been before with her. There was a good reason for that as she'd never put so many words together before in one unbroken sentence as she had just done.
The crew's focus on her was broken by the sound of breaching seawater behind her. She spun around back to the railing to behold the action taking place in the formally empty scene of open water.
Tall spires of a city's architecture unparalleled by any in the modern era punched clear of the waves to rise up once more into the daylight after a long absence from the realm of the living. Towering spires gave way to a city the likes of which none of the pirates could ever have dreamed possible in terms of size and awe inspiring appeal.