Survivors of Corrica Read online

“You’d really do that?” Anya stared at him in shock.

  “I might be an opportunist, but I’m not cruel. I’m willing to help out those in need, especially if things are terrible. Yet I have to protect myself, my boat, and everyone who depends on me. I can only fit so many people aboard this ship, and then after that, they might have to fend for themselves.”

  “I see.” Anya said, deliberating. “Would you have space for three more?”

  “Currently, I still do, especially for my own cousin. But I’m looking at a limited range now when there are dozens I have to fit on board here, and I’ve got to pack enough food and supplies for all of us.”

  Anya nodded. “All right then. Just don’t leave without us.” She got up and disembarked from the ship, returning to shore.

  ℜℜℜ

  Marko and Hasbas left to find Mogame, as they decided not to include anyone else in their plans when the fewer people who knew about it, the better. While approaching Mogame and preparing for a possible evacuation might not necessarily be a traitorous move, they feared how Memba and his supporters would react if they found out about the measures they were taking.

  Besides, they were already intruding upon a crowded party and asking permission to board their vessel. The fewer people they got involved in this, the better so that they could be included in this crew.

  Hasbas hated the fact that they were concealing such important information from anyone else, including friends and extended family members who wouldn’t be able to make this voyage. But Marko told him there was a chance that others could eventually find their way off of the island, too, especially if the earthquakes continued warning them that something was wrong here.

  Hasbas tried to believe him, even though he knew he was just fending off the guilt he felt. They headed for the library where Mogame worked, as he’d presented his credentials before he spoke in front of the Elders. They didn’t know if he’d be there now, but it was the only touchpoint they had for him.

  Many of the scholars, librarians, and researchers there were busy gathering up fallen and damaged books and scrolls, setting them aside or stowing them away. They didn’t pay much attention to Marko and Hasbas, and when someone finally heard their request to meet with Mogame, they distractedly pointed off in the direction of his office and continued on with their business.

  Marko and Hasbas carefully strode over there, sidestepping the debris and piles of tomes and manuscripts, until they finally rapped upon his office door. Mogame opened the door, staring bleary-eyed at them when he hadn’t gotten much sleep.

  “Can I help you?” He asked.

  They practically forced him back into his office, shutting the door firmly behind them, as Marko said, “We want to know everything about what’s going on with Mt. Harmony, and then we want to join you, Geneva, and her family aboard your vessel. We’re willing to pay our share. We’ll offer you food and supplies on top of that, not to mention that Hasbas and I are also soldiers, too. So we’ll give you our swords, too.”

  Mogame gasped, staring back and forth between Marko and Hasbas. “I’m not certain I can offer you two berths, but--”

  “There will be seven of us.” Hasbas said. “Marko has a small family, and so do I. Eight if you count another man, Zeldos, who might be joining us.”

  “Eight people, and Geneva has at least fifty-two people in her party, that’s a little much.” Mogame said. “I’m not sure about Porran’s crew, how many people he’ll take on board his ship, but I don’t think it’s much bigger than that.”

  “Porran, he’s the commander of the vessel? I can look him up, too.” Marko said, turning to Hasbas. “We can negotiate with him, maybe, if he can take a smaller crew in exchange for us serving as rowers.”

  “I’d be willing to do that. I think Lapida and Corr could handle an oar together if they had to.” Hasbas said.

  “My wife Dahlia would join them to protect us, and Buzzbo would definitely take an oar.” Marko nodded, turning to the scholar. “Thanks, Mogame. Now tell us, how soon are we looking at this eruption event?”

  “Days would be generous at this point.” Mogame said. “I’m not sure if it can outlast the end of the week before it explodes. Another major tremor could trigger it, as this last one’s a sign that it’s boiling.”

  “Right, we should get out of here before then. Thanks for telling us this, Mogame.” Hasbas said as he and Marko hurried out of there.

  Mogame shook his head, grimacing. “I better get out of here. Maybe I should warn Geneva and her family that there are interlopers trying to muscle their way on board her vessel.” Mogame gathered as much as he could, and quickly left the library before he got trapped there again.

  ℜℜℜ

  Wintha looked up as Wilama dragged her feet towards her, studying the child. “How did you know?” Wilama asked the girl.

  “I’ve had visions ever since I could remember.” Wintha said. “Even then, I knew it wasn’t normal that I could see something happen before it did. I thought it might be dreams, like my mother said, or I tried to deny and ignore it. But then I saw my parents die days before they passed away. I couldn’t bear to see it come true, so I tried to change what happened, but it still did, no matter how hard I fought it. I left my home and started wandering, searching for some answer, but I found nothing. Since I’ve arrived in the City of Elders, I’ve seen it burn, choked by ash, and there’s nothing I can do for it now.”

  Wilama closed her eyes, trying to stop herself from weeping. “Loqwuano would say we must oppose this end with all our might. But how can we withstand the titanic forces that nature will unleash upon us?” She opened her eyes. “So we must do our best, and try to escape.”

  “That’s exactly my plan as well. That’s why I came here with you.” Wintha told her.

  Before Wilama could question her, Anya came running up to them. “I can get us berths on my cousin’s ship, but we must go there now before it’s too late. He’s already got dozens of people clamoring to board his ship.”

  “Then we must hurry. Everyone will be waiting for us.” Wintha said, getting up and dashing out of the infirma hospit. Wilama and Anya stared at each other, and then they followed after the girl, hoping she wouldn’t lead them astray or leave them behind.

  ℜℜℜ

  Zeldos packed what little he had left, along with food and an extra change of clothes he stole, not knowing what might be available to him aboard that vessel. He snuck through the palace, evaded guards, and headed towards an exit he assumed might be unguarded right now.

  He’d be a fugitive, escaping like this, but he didn’t care what might happen to him if he got away from here. Suddenly, as Zeldos approached the door, he heard footsteps behind him and turned around to face Memba.

  “What’re you doing here?” Memba glared at him.

  Zeldos lashed out at him, jabbing with a diving punch, and then swinging out with a wheel kick in an attempt to knock Memba out. However, Memba had also trained in the military, ducking back from Zeldos’s punch, and countering Zeldos’s swing with a side kick, throwing Zeldos slightly off guard.

  Now Memba launched at Zeldos in a fury, punching and kicking, while Zeldos was on the defensive, countering the strikes and feeling the blows. However, Memba backed Zeldos off into a corner, where he sprang off of the wall and landed a few solid punches on Memba.

  Memba was beaten back, shielding himself as best he could, and tried to call out for help. However, Zeldos knocked him down with a roundhouse kick and wrestled him to the floor, jabbing and strangling him, choking off his cries. Memba struggled to fight back, but he passed out after a few seconds.

  Zeldos backed off of Memba, however, wanting to get away and he couldn’t waste a single moment here. So he deserted the place as fast as he could, not knowing that someday he’d regret this decision.

  Zeldos escaped the palace and raced through the streets, hoping he’d reach the waterfront before his absence was discovered or an alarm was raised. He didn’t have much ti
me, and even if he couldn’t find Hasbas or Marko, he’d book passage on the first boat he came across that was leaving, even if he’d have to stow away or work for his berth. Even if it was the same type of ship that had brought him here, just as long as he got away from the island of Corrica, the City of Elders, and Memba.

  ℜℜℜ

  Hasbas met his wife Lapida and his brother Corr, already packed and ready to go, and escorted them away from their home, telling them what the plan was and where they were going. Meanwhile, Marko returned to his home, a villa in a prosperous area, where he quickly told his wife Dahlia what was going on. As she fetched their baby boy, Jomo, Marko went out to a small guesthouse on their property and told his lover Buzzbo about what was happening.

  The other man started packing with Marko helping him out, and then Buzzbo and Marko left the guesthouse, joining Dahlia and Jomo as they fled their small estate. They soon encountered Hasbas and his family, all of them making their way to the harbor.

  Zeldos raced past them, Mogame, Geneva, and her family hurried to catch up with them, while Wintha led Wilama and Anya on a shortcut to the boat. As Porran and his crew started to prepare the vessel, packing their supplies, everyone flocked to the dock, clamoring for attention and to book a passage.

  “We’re here, Porran! I brought Wintha, and Wilama, say hello.” Anya said.

  “Hello.” Wintha and Wilama said.

  “Is this ship leaving now? I want to join it, please let me.” Zeldos said, trying to ignore the length of the vessel and the bank of oars when it was the same type of long-ship that had brought him to Corrica.

  “My name’s Marko! This is my family, lover, and over there’s my friend Hasbas and his family. We want to board your vessel as well.” Marko said.

  “Please, we’ll pay and work for this chance. Marko and I are soldiers. We’ll defend you, your crew, and everyone else if you let us come with you.” Hasbas pleaded.

  “Remember, you promised us first that we’d have a reservation.” Mogame said. “These others, they weren’t the first to hire you or your boat.”

  “By the way, who’re all of these people?” Geneva asked, staring at them. “Wait, is that you, Lapida?”

  “Hello, sorry about all of this, but we need to get out of here.” Lapida waved at her.

  “One at a time! One at a time!” Porran shouted at them.

  “There isn’t any more time.” Wintha said, turning to the mountain. “The volcano will erupt.”

  “What’s a volcano?” Wilama asked her.

  Then the mountain ruptured in the distance, splintered by the enormous pressure of a gas cloud spewing out. The fumes billowed out, hot and powerful enough that it cremated and demolished everything in its path for a couple miles. Then it kept going, spreading ash, debris, and poison into the air, straight on towards the City of Elders.

  “I’m guessing that’s a volcano.” Zeldos said.

  “Everyone, board the ship!” Porran yelled, but none of them needed telling twice as they fled the disaster.

  “How’d she know it’d do that now?” Mogame asked, staring at the girl.

  “Never mind that, come on!” Geneva shouted, pulling him along with the press of her entire family flooding the boat.

  Once they were on, people flocked around, rearranging and scrambling for space, while Porran and his crew hoisted up the anchor, raised the sail, and manned their oars. They were soon joined by other men, women, and even youths taking an empty spot on unfilled berths, and then they started rowing, following the directions and instructions of the more experienced sailors.

  As Porran’s vessel pulled away from the port, gaining speed and distance away from the island, other boats and ships still docked in the harbor found themselves overwhelmed by waves of people, running away from annihilation, heading towards the water and safety. They streamed onto these vessels, unprepared or not knowing the first thing about sailing, and attempted to get them moving as fast as possible, quarreling or fighting amongst each other.

  Very few of these ships managed to unmoor themselves and set sail, getting away before the ash cloud hit them, choking and poisoning people, cutting them off from the rest of the world so that they couldn’t see where they were going or what they were doing until it was too late. As for the rest of the city, if anyone survived the first wave from the fumes, then the lava boiling down the mountainside and sliding its way into the streets and buildings below would surely kill them.

  From Porran’s vessel, far enough away that the tainted air wouldn’t affect them, the people watched as the city and world they knew was destroyed forever. There was no way back from here, nothing left for them, and so they just kept rowing and going, faster and farther away, trying to ignore the distant echo of any cries.

  ℜℜℜ

  Earlier, when Memba regained consciousness, he called upon several guards to chase after his escaped rhapsode. He joined in their pursuit, wanting to deliver a few more kicks and punches to Zeldos personally once he was in their custody. They headed for the waterfront, figuring a fugitive slave would try to leave the island.

  By the time they reached the wharf, the mountain erupted just like Mogame said it would. Memba and the guards stared up at the sight in horror and then he commanded them to seize one of the boats in the marina as they needed to go. They quickly worked together, hijacking a small fishing vessel with a crew, ordering them to depart.

  They took to the sea and even rowed when the situation called for it as the island of Corrica and the City of Elders was destroyed behind them. Memba watched the horror, furious at Mogame for failing to convey his warning soundly enough that he and the Elders would believe him.

  Mogame should’ve spread the news far and wide to anyone who’d listen and forced them to hear what he said. It was just what Memba would’ve done, if he was in Mogame’s spot, but now they were all gone, all dead and dying, and no one would listen to him.

  Memba felt alone, despite being surrounded by his soldiers and these sailors, when there was nothing left of Corrica and the City of Elders. Nothing left of the dominion and glory he’d attained before it was all so cruelly, maliciously taken away from him by the gods and nature.

  How could this happen to him, just as he was about to ascend to the highest position in the world, the Corrican empire as he knew it? He was going to be in charge of everything, but now there was nothing left, and the empire would fall apart without Corrica and the City of Elders to anchor it.

  Perhaps Memba might try to rally support from other Corricans, currently stationed or located on other islands in the region, to rebuild their infrastructure on a new base of operations. But without a central point to call them to, what choices were left to them, especially when they’d have to contend with insurrections and upheaval?

  Memba didn’t know if he’d succeed in such an endeavor, with so much that could go wrong, and feared this was the end of everything he’d ever known to be true. He couldn’t save his people, no matter how hard he tried, and that frustrated him most of all.

  He couldn’t stop Corrica’s destruction, he couldn’t rescue anybody that was left behind, and he couldn’t go back in time and make himself listen to that stupid scholar. He was helpless and he hated that feeling, especially when they were alone and facing the unknown with people like Zeldos and all the other slaves and vassals they’d claimed rising up against them.

  Zeldos and all the others like him would pay for what they did, Memba swore to himself. He’d get an army, somehow or someway, and he’d protect the remnants of his people from despair and ruin. Memba plotted his eventual return to sovereignty and glory as they continued rowing on across the sea.

  Chapter Four:

  Rowing Together

  As Corrica and the volcano receded in the distance, the light faded, and now they were floating in the middle of the open ocean at night without any light except the stars and moon overhead. Porran and his crew stilled their oars, resting, and the passengers followed their lead
, all of them silent and mourning, close to tears.

  Wilama started singing a dirge, and a few others joined in if they understood or remembered the words. But most paid little attention to the lament, dealing with their own pain in different ways.

  Porran couldn’t see all of the people aboard his ship now, but he knew it was a diverse group with men, women, and children of various ages, from a couple in their sixties to a baby. They’d all have different ideas and opinions about what they should do now with different personalities, experiences, and lives to one another. What they needed at the moment was an expert guide to show them a way, especially after such a traumatic event.

  Porran got up from his rowing bench, and took up a commanding position at the head of the ship, where everyone could see and hear him, or at least glimpse his shadow and make out his voice. They glanced up at him, wondering what was going on.

  Porran said, “I don’t know all of you, but welcome aboard my ship. My name’s Porran, I’m captain of this tub. Tonight we’ll be taking shifts. Each of us needs sleep, but we also need to keep this boat moving, pointed in the right direction. Five rows of oars at least should always be on active duty, ready to direct and power this vessel if the wind dies down, though ten would be best. Most of you will be on these shifts, taking up an oar, especially when we’re understaffed. Members of my crew will also be on each shift, ready to guide and assist you, but you’ll have to pull through as well. We’ll start taking turns now, with the first five rows at the bow for a couple hours, then the next five rows, and on aft. Any questions?”

  No one said anything, and Porran nodded, leaving his post and taking up his position on an oar once more. Another member of the crew took charge then, directing the first five rows of rowers in their strokes, smooth and gentle for now, resting often whenever the wind carried them, but they couldn’t fall asleep. They had to watch the sky, following the direction of a certain star, and making sure they were pointed in that direction, as the crew member guided them in making course corrections and another manned the rudder at the stern.