Chapter Fourteen: Danzi's Memories

After much turmoil, the ship was finally heading home. First came the storm, then the blizzard, and now the sea was extraordinarily calm—so calm it felt unreal, as if all that had happened before was nothing but a dream. The vessel sped homeward at full throttle, twenty-five knots, and at that pace, they would reach the beautiful harbor of their homeland in about twenty days.

The crew had largely recovered their composure from the journey out, and the anticipation of returning home lifted everyone’s spirits as they resumed their posts.

Yet Old Rooster could not find peace, even with Lord Noah’s steady breath nearby. He habitually reached for his pipe, only to set it down again in silence. After a long while, he finally spoke.

“What truly happened?”

Egg was the first to respond, with Dragonboy adding a detail or two. Egg, however, was brimming with newfound vigor—nothing about him suggested someone who had just survived a harrowing ordeal. He gesticulated wildly, his speech a torrent; any passerby would have thought him a storyteller rather than a sailor.

As Egg spun his tale, Dragonboy, lulled by the narrative, soon drifted off to sleep, leaving Egg to talk and Old Rooster to listen.

“That day, when Dragonboy and I deciphered the note and realized the ship had left, we were furious,” Egg recounted, voice animated. “But then I remembered Captain Noah was still on the island—how could I abandon him? Just then, we received his call for help, so we rushed off to find him.”

Egg barely paused for breath, and Old Rooster did not interrupt. Without Noah’s presence, the truth of the story was hard to verify, but when Egg reached key points, Old Rooster would quietly probe for more detail. After a swallow, Egg continued:

“But think about it—how could we possibly find Noah on that vast island? I reasoned he must have headed for the Black Palace, so using all my esoteric skills, I tracked down its general location. Yet with no entrance, no markings, we were at a loss.

I thought: Noah must be in the underground palace. So we decided to dig for an entrance. As we started, suddenly a tree beside us toppled—strange, isn’t it?” Egg asked rhetorically, but answered himself before Old Rooster could reply.

“Later, we learned that Noah, trapped inside, managed to fell the tree as a signal. How could one man bring down a tree that size? He worked hard at it, but I’ll get to that. Anyway, with the tree down, I called Dragonboy to join me. The tree was huge but hollow inside, just enough for a person to slide down. I leapt in and landed safely below.” At this, Dragonboy, half-awake, interrupted—he couldn’t stand the embellishments any longer, since it had mostly been him searching.

“You fell through the hollow and hurt your foot, didn’t you?” came the voice from behind.

“You—! Well, ahem, yes, I did slip and fall, but that didn’t stop me from showing my mettle later!” Egg, caught in his exaggeration, was momentarily embarrassed, but with his thick skin, he brushed it off. Dragonboy, exhausted and finally home, soon closed his eyes and drifted off again.

Seeing Dragonboy asleep, Egg pressed on with his tale of heroism.

“When I got down there, I was stunned—Noah’s clothes were riddled with holes, his body stained red with blood. I was terrified! But Noah saw our concern and reassured us: the blood wasn’t his. Then he pointed to the creature beside him.

And let me tell you, just seeing that beast made my legs tremble—it was the size of an ox, with a dinosaur’s head and razor-sharp teeth. It could crawl on all fours or stand upright—imagine that! Later, Noah told us it was called a Rhinodrake. Who knew such creatures existed in the world?” Egg glanced over, but Dragonboy was fast asleep.

“A Rhinodrake?” Old Rooster echoed, lips moving unconsciously.

“Yes, and it was cunning—it could mimic human movements, and from its mouth it spewed a gas that caused dizziness and unconsciousness. If Noah hadn’t warned us, Dragonboy and I might have been done for the moment we descended.

Of course, Noah truly is formidable—he fought the beast for ages and finally took it down. That’s why he was covered in blood when we found him, though he was injured too. As for the tree, it was ancient and decaying. While fighting the Rhinodrake, Noah lured it into ramming the tree repeatedly until it fell.”

“The tree fell from above, didn’t it?” Old Rooster asked, half-serious.

“Well… yes, it did. To be precise, Dragonboy and I heard banging, got startled, and decided to cut it down ourselves. A few chops and it was down, and that’s how we found the hollow.” Egg scratched his head and laughed sheepishly. He had turned his account into a cinematic adventure.

Old Rooster could no longer restrain himself. One question haunted his mind: Why had Noah gone to the Black Palace? Had he discovered something? After all these years, had he finally found its trail?

“Did you ever get inside the Black Palace?” he asked.

“We did, but…” Egg hesitated.

“But what? Did you or didn’t you?”

“We got in, but there were traps inside. Dragonboy was hit by an arrow, and Noah drove us out. We waited outside for days.”

So Egg finally confessed—much of his tale had been bluster.

What Old Rooster truly wanted to know remained unanswered. It seemed the truth would only come when the captain awoke. As he pondered this, Noah began to speak in his sleep.

“I’ve finally found you! All these years, I’ve been searching for you!” Cold sweat beaded Noah’s brow.

“Noah? Noah?” Egg called softly.

“Shh!” Old Rooster gestured for silence, urging Egg to let Noah rest.

“Do you know how much I’ve missed you? Do you know how many years I’ve searched for you?” Noah’s voice turned plaintive, and tears slipped from the corners of his eyes.

A chill ran through Old Rooster’s heart. Could it be that Noah had found it—had found her?