His eyes were fixed on the horizon; the longing for home weighed heavily on his heart. The salty scent of the wind filled his nostrils, and the endless blue of the sea left a hollow emptiness in his gaze. Every wave carried memories and fragments of the past: the childhood spent in a small coastal village, the aroma of fresh bread his mother baked for breakfast, the heavy footsteps of his father at the dock…
Lost in thought, he felt a gentle touch on his shoulder. Startled, he turned around; standing beside him was Darin, his closest friend among the ship's crew.
"You seem deep in thought, Thalion. Missing home?"
Thalion gave a faint smile, yet his eyes remained on the horizon.
"Home… yes. But the sea… the sea feels like a home too. Strange, isn't it?"
Darin nodded.
"I understand. But fifty-five days, Thalion… Do you remember how excited we were on the first days?"
"I remember… but now each day feels like a test."
Thalion whispered without taking his eyes off the horizon:— Sometimes I think about everyone on this ship, their pasts, their fears… Joran, for example, a boy from a small village. He's afraid of storms, yet he tries to gather his courage.
Darin nodded slightly:— Yes, I've noticed. But despite his fear, he doesn't give up. Crewmates like him are why we're still standing.
Thalion turned his gaze briefly to Darin:— Helia… the experienced female crew member… she still remembers past accidents, always watching, always alert.
Darin smiled, but his eyes remained serious:— Without Helia, survival on this ship would be nearly impossible. Her experience is our greatest weapon.
Thalion took a deep breath and looked at Darin:— And you… Darin. You've been my most trusted friend all my life. With you beside me, I always feel stronger.
Darin lightly touched his shoulder:— And I will always be by your side, Thalion. No matter how fierce the storm… we're together.
On the horizon stretched an immense void, a blend of blue and gray. The howling wind merged with the roaring waves, and the ship's cold metal body trembled. Not the wooden planks, but the steel beams groaned, whispering into Thalion's heart: "The world… has become unthinkable."
As the sky darkened, a heavy silence fell upon the deck. Something was wrong; Thalion's hair stood on end. As the sun set, the sea raged, waves slowly rising, clouds thickening, rain beginning to drizzle. Toward night, the waves struck the metal hull, and the drizzle turned into a heavy downpour. Lightning flashed continuously, striking into the sea's furious waves, illuminating the sky in harsh bursts.
A massive bolt of lightning broke from the sky and struck a crew member standing on the deck. The impact shook the ship violently; steel beams groaned. Darin and a few others rushed to their struck friend, but the silence and horror enveloped everything. Thalion's chest tightened.
Before his eyes, a life was extinguished in an instant. He swung his arms in the air, unsure what to do; the ship pitched beneath him, the cold metal sliding under his feet.
Before he could think further, a colossal wave slammed into the ship, so powerful that the metal plates of the hull groaned as if in pain. Darin and the crew clung to ropes, struggling to keep their balance on the trembling deck. Another wave followed, then another! The enormous metal body of the ship almost tilted entirely. The ropes stretched, steel beams cried out. Thalion nearly lost his balance, but the determination in Darin's and the crew's eyes forced him to steady himself.
The waves were so strong that ropes snapped one by one, and the sails began to tear apart. The remaining fabric flailed violently as the wind shredded it, while the metal hull continued to moan. Thalion struggled to stand firm, Darin and the others clinging to each other amidst the chaos of snapping ropes and shredded sails.
A torn sail crashed onto the deck, striking a crew member mercilessly and tearing through his abdomen. Darin and the others recoiled in horror; between the moaning metal and the storm's roar, silence fell, a shadow of death looming. Thalion's heart froze; the storm was no longer just nature—it had become a killer, hunting the ship and those aboard.
The final wave hit, splitting a massive crack across the deck. Water gushed in violently. The crew screamed, their voices swallowed by the sea and the scent of death filling the ship. Thalion felt the rope he was holding stretch; icy water rose to his wrists. Darin's voice pierced the roar of the storm:— "To the lower deck! Quick!"
As Darin attempted to descend, the ship pitched violently. In an instant, he was swept away by the merciless waves. He could neither scream nor reach for anyone's hand. Thalion watched, frozen, as his only friend vanished; the storm had claimed him too.
An unseen force seemed to drag the ship toward the ocean's depths with unstoppable speed. The metal hull shrieked like a living monster. Water poured through the deck's gaping crack, swallowing the ship. Thalion lost his footing for a moment; the deck beneath him seemed to vanish. Squinting at the horizon, he saw only darkness: sky and sea merged into a single black void. The invisible force continued dragging the ship downward; metal plates tore off one by one, each shard flying like deadly projectiles through the crew. Screams mixed with the storm's roar; the sea now a living beast, tearing the ship apart. Thalion reached out, but there was nothing left to hold. Before his eyes, everything went black as the ominous whirlpool rising from the depths swallowed him mercilessly.