Deep Sea Embers

Ever since he discovered the strange Homeless Ship sailing in endless darkness and fog, Duncan had been careful not to try to take over its steering wheel.

Because he couldn't determine what the nature of the ship was, nor how the ship would react to his "takeover."

But now, he knew that this ship was the shadow of the Lost Home, and that it was Goat Head's unconscious "dream" that caused this change, which dispelled many of his worries.

It's time to let this ship sailing in dreams know who is the real captain.

Duncan slowly walked up to the bridge on the stern deck, and passed over the iron hooks and cables near the bridge - the cables were silent, dormant in the darkness, while the dark-colored steering wheel swayed slightly from side to side in the center of the platform. , as if even in this dream world, the steering wheel is still being fine-tuned, as if the goat head is still dutifully controlling the course.

Duncan came to the rudder and took a breath. He couldn't help but recall the scene when he stood on the bridge for the first time and put his hand on the rudder.

Putting the irrelevant thoughts out of his mind for the time being, he stretched out his hand and slowly grasped the wooden handle on the edge of the steering wheel - a smooth and cold touch came, along with a slight resistance.

Duncan ignored the resistance coming along the dreamland. He mobilized the "safety fires" that had been sent to the ship before and ordered them to gather towards the bridge while holding the rudder firmly.

The next second, wisps of flames emerged out of thin air in the darkness, and the spiritual flames ignited the bridge at the stern of the ship in the blink of an eye. Duncan's body turned into a translucent spirit body in the flames, and the entire bridge, including the steering wheel, He was also instantly enveloped in flames!

In an instant, Duncan felt that the ship was changing in his hands, and felt that it was taking on a clear and distinct structure in his mind just like the Lost Home in the real world - he felt its deck, its The mast, every sail and rigging, and the cabins and corridors below the deck shrouded in darkness and secrecy...

There was a creaking sound from the whole ship. The Homeless Ship, which was made of shadows as "raw materials" and shaped by the power of dreams, seemed to wake up suddenly. It finally recognized its captain and everyone on the ship. Everyone seemed to be cheering, and the cables, barrels and other objects that were silent a second ago began to sway in the darkness.

And then, as the sail of the spirit body gradually filled up, Duncan felt that the ghost ship, which was originally just wandering slowly in the dark fog, began to accelerate, as if it had a sailing target, and began to move towards the darkness. sail in a certain direction.

Duncan was surprised to feel the changes in the ship, especially its sudden acceleration in the darkness. However, before he could carefully perceive what was ahead of the course, a voice suddenly came from nowhere and came directly in. His mind: "...who is there?"

It was a female voice that sounded a little childish, with a vagueness as if half asleep and half awake. The voice was everywhere in the darkness, and the next second after hearing the voice, Duncan felt a light and shadow suddenly appear in front of his eyes. Immediately afterwards, a huge structure suddenly appeared from the darkness ahead, and a hazy phantom light appeared in front of the course!

It looked like a huge whirlpool, but countless structures like vines or branches could be seen in the whirlpool. Endless vines and branches came from the front of the Lost Home and covered the side of the ship in the blink of an eye. In almost every inch of space outside, in front of Duncan's eyes, the huge plant structure occupied all the field of vision, and continued to extend and move backwards as the Lost Home sailed.

This gives people the feeling as if the ship suddenly "flyed" into a "tunnel" woven by some kind of huge plant structure. The vine branches intertwined into the walls and dome of the tunnel, and a huge sense of oppression also followed. Coming, and at the same time, countless glimmers of light emerged along the vines and gathered like water.

Those "lights" finally came into contact with the Lost Home, and began to approach the stern deck where Duncan was located along the deck and side of the ship. There seemed to be something converging in the light, but they could never show a clear appearance. They just kept converging. Keep getting closer, as if you are looking for something.

Duncan held the steering wheel tightly amidst the overwhelming visual pressure and mysterious glow. He controlled himself and did not intend to leave the bridge no matter what happened. He watched the dark vines and branches moving outside the ship's side. He felt that the speed of the Lost Home was slowly decreasing, as if there was invisible resistance slowing down the ship. Then, the wandering lights finally gathered near him, and he heard the immature, child-like voice again. ——

"Who is it? Who's there?"

Duncan stared at the light and saw the light coming near him, wandering aimlessly around the bridge, listening to the voices in his head.

"Are you back? Saslokar...are you home? You have been away for a long time...

"I can't see you... Where are you? Can I open my eyes? Is it over?

"I...I can't open my eyes, Sasloka, I'm a little scared, I can't see anything...but something is coming...

"I protected them all. I built a wall. You can see them when you come back...but I can't see you. Are you there? Have you come back?"

The light called over and over again, wandering around the bridge and converging, and then dispersed into a blind and chaotic stream of light. Several times, the faint light even flowed near the steering wheel, and even touched the corners of Duncan's clothes and cuffs.

However, "she" seems unable to sense Duncan's presence.

"She" couldn't see anything, it was as if... the owner of the voice and Duncan were in different dimensions and in different time and space.

Duncan looked at the wandering light streams and listened to the voices that seemed to be ringing directly in his mind. When the light was close, he could even feel the slight heat, and the words that the voices kept repeating seemed to be conveying many things. Crucial information - He frowned, and after a brief hesitation, he finally stretched out his hand. One hand continued to hold the rudder, and the other hand reached for one of the streams of light.

The light touched his palm, sending a warmth that seemed both real and illusory.

Then, the glimmer of light penetrated his arm, and the temperature it brought also subsided. As if in another dimension, the light flowed towards the stern of the ship.

But in this moment of contact, Duncan knew, or "confirmed" the name of this glimmer of light and sound - she was Silantis, the world tree of elves.

This name directly reflected in Duncan's mind in the form of information, as if showing... the pollution of knowledge.

Duncan was stunned for a moment, and then he felt a sudden tremor on the deck beneath his feet.

The next second, this tremor appeared on the entire ship. The "Homeless Ship" sailing in the dark fog began to shake violently. The spiritual sail quickly extinguished in the darkness, and countless cracks appeared on the deck, forming a Everything on the ship was fading and disintegrating, and even the steering wheel in Duncan's hand began to gradually lose its solid touch.

Duncan was startled for a moment, and then realized what happened——

The stability of the dream is declining, and the moment of "awakening" arrives.

But this time he clearly avoided the stimulation of the flames to Sirantes. In the previous contact, he did not feel any signs of "awakening" from Sirantes... Why is the stability of the dream still decreasing rapidly? ?

…

The sudden chaotic wind in the desert woke Vanna from her thoughts. She suddenly stood up from the pile of rocks sheltered from the wind and looked in the direction where the wind and sand swept.

The wind and sand rose in the distance like a wall, everything in the dust and fog quickly became hazy, and those jagged boulders became illusory and distorted, as if they would disappear from this world at any time.

After a brief moment of astonishment, Fanna received a message from the captain——

The stability of the Dream of the Nameless One is declining, and this time the dream is about to end.

The flying dust and the constantly distorting and illusory vision are the boundaries of the dream that are quickly approaching.

Vanna suddenly turned around and looked across from the bonfire that was almost extinguished.

The old giant was raising his head, his sunken eye sockets like stone carvings burning with calm flames.

"Traveler, it seems it's time to say goodbye."

Fanna was stunned for a moment, then suddenly realized: "How...do you know..."

"I don't know what is going to happen, but I can feel that a journey is temporarily over. You are leaving, right?" The giant said gently, slowly getting up from the pile of rubble, his body like a tower Standing up in the wind, he lowered his head and stared calmly into Vanna's eyes, "You do not belong to this destroyed world - you still have life in you, and this world has not seen life for a long time."

Vanna opened her mouth, but she didn't know what to say - in this brief moment when she was about to wake up from her dream, it seemed that the only time left for her was to say goodbye.

The giant smiled, bent down and picked up the strange-looking long staff.

Fanna noticed that there were several more symbols on the surface of this huge "cane" that was even taller than the giant.

Those were a few letters, with an inexplicable... paradoxical sense of familiarity. For a moment, she even felt that she was about to understand them, but the next second, the meaning of those words flowed from her mind like water. faded away.

It was a text she didn't recognize.

"Traveller, maybe we will meet again," the giant's voice came from above, interrupting Vanna's distraction, "and it might be soon."

Fanna was startled: "Why?"

The giant pointed to the cane: "Because there is a sentence here that I haven't finished carving yet."

Vanna blinked and was about to ask something, but the wind and sand rushed quickly from behind her - in the sudden rise of sand and dust, the world in her field of vision quickly shook and collapsed.

In the next second, the collapsed world reorganized and turned into a familiar living room, a familiar dining table, and a familiar roof.

Those familiar faces also appeared in front of her again.