Hunter of the Evernight
Chapter 558: Burned

Chapter 558: Burned

Heavy breathing punctuated by the sound of running echoed in the desolate land filled with molten earth and rife with the smell of brimstone.

Victoria, the source of these sounds, ran like her life depended on it while holding onto an egg shaped rock with golden yellow lines that burned her with a vengeance.

Behind her heavy footsteps could be heard, eliciting tremors that shook the land to its core.

Sensing an attack, Victoria swiftly dropped to the ground, just in time as well as a stream of molten lava went past where her head once was, destroying a few rock formations ahead.

Victoria glanced back to find a ridiculously large creature that resembled a lizard with red scales and fan shaped appendage about its neck.

It was a Crimson Salamander, A Higher Spirit that bathed in magma and thrived within abnormally high heat.

The creature let out a violent screech as it stared at her before proceeding to shoot out yet another stream of molten lava.

Victoria rolled away, barely avoiding the impact that followed though it nearly forced her into a stream of molten lava.

Feeling the scalding heat on her face, she got back on her feet and continued her run.

In the distance stood a forest which would serve as her getaway route.

Picking up the pace, Victoria could almost taste her victory, at least until the Salamander let out a screech that disoriented her.

She tumbled before quickly rolling aside as she feared for another attack but it never came... at least, not in the way she expected.

The screech of the Salamander was hardly an attack and instead, seemed to be a call for help causing a gaze to suddenly focus on Victoria, leaving her completely immobile.

Victoria struggled against the gaze, forcing herself to look in the direction it was coming from and that was when she saw it.

It was a horned giant with a large single eye, seated on an iron black throne carved out of a volcano.

Its body was wreathed in flames that burned with the intensity of a sun while a towering flaming sword rested beside it.

That was the King of Spiritual Flames, Ifrit, the Greater Spirit that ruled over the Fiery Lands that persisted within the Spirit World.

Victoria had hoped she’d be able to escape before he noticed her as she was well aware of her capabilities which were sorely lacking against such a terrifying foe.

Alas, the Salamander, frustrated at having not caught the one that had dared to sneak into its nest and steal its egg, decided to call for help, causing the fiery lands and its ruler to notice her presence.

Victoria felt her skin heat up and peel off her bones, causing her to scream as it seemed as though invisible flames were eating at her.

Just as the damage was about to take her life, a golden door outlined itself behind her followed by the emergence of Elena who didn’t hesitate to pick her up and flee.

Ifrit watched Victoria disappear into the golden door which disappeared as quickly as it appeared before it slowly turned its attention away.

***

To head to the abandoned vessel, Vissarion picked out a four man group, consisting of those he trusted the most, those that had proven their faith in the Goddess.

Unfortunately he couldn’t take the first mate along since someone had to stay behind to make the decisions on the S.S Jones.

"Be careful, Captain." the first mate remarked with Vissarion nodding.

"Do not fret, the Goddess is with us."

With that, he boarded the rescue boat along with the other four he’d picked before they paddled to the abandoned ship.

They arrived at roughly the same time as the other four captains, each person acknowledging the presence of the other.

Vissarion found it intriguing how they had all experienced the terrifying storm from the other day and had even come across sea serpents as well.

A rather peculiar experience that they all shared.

Shaking his head to get rid of unnecessary thoughts, Vissarion focused on the task at hand, getting his men to stop at a spot that had a makeshift ladder that led into the ship.

Having discovered this, he took two men with him and left the two behind as he swiftly made his way up the ladder.

The other captains followed in his lead, quickly making their way into the ship until fifteen of them were on board.

The first thing they were met with was the obvious signs of abandonment; the filth, the smell, the cobwebs and numerous insects that only have impetus to the notion that it had been a while since this ship was abandoned but it begged the question, but then when had it been abandoned?

Even the Enclave didn’t dare sail during the month of Astra as it was too risky and the winds for sailing had only just begun to reveal themselves so when was the ship abandoned and most importantly, why was it abandoned.

They soon got a bit of an answer upon getting to the living area which was in complete disarray but that wasn’t what shocked them most.

What did in fact do them in were the signs of struggling, the claw marks on the ground, the roof, the walls... It was almost like the people onboard had suddenly experienced something or someone that forced them to fight back rather aggressively.

But then, there was no blood to verify their conjectures.

After scouring the living area and finding nothing but more destruction, they gathered together at the center of the hall to decide on their next course of action.

"I say we spread out to cover more ground." One of the captains suggested only to be quickly rebuffed.

"We don’t even know what’s on board that caused the vessel to be abandoned and its crew gone like the wind, yet you want to split us up. Think again."

Nodding in agreement, Vissarion intoned. "Ivan is correct, we can’t split up, not until we have gotten to know what exactly happened to this ship."

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