The Stonehearted Knight
Chapter 266: The endless dunes

Chapter 266: The endless dunes

"Steady!"

The old captain of the Sky Serpent roared above the howling wind.

Hex operated the lever with all his might. The storm threatened to throw them to the ground. Hex heard the other members of the crew groan.

Sensing the strain on his freshly healed muscles, he cursed. He just finished recuperating and hoped to enjoy the new landscape before him.

But no, the moment he stepped on the top deck, the weather turned. The gentle breeze turned into a turbulent storm. It wasn’t just a storm. It was a sandstorm. The onslaught of fine particles in the air made things harder.

The sand decreased visibility and increased the difficulty of breathing. Already a few people had passed out. He took over to lessen their burden. But it didn’t help a lot. They struggled.

He felt the boat rock from all sides. He didn’t look but his heart trembled at the soft tearing sounds. And he perspired at the fluttering sound afterward. He didn’t warn others though. It would cause people to panic. Not that they weren’t already. The whispered prayers didn’t escape his sharp ears.

It wouldn’t do any good to tell them that they left Heaven behind. So, Hex focused on things closer to him and what he could control.

When he had filled in at the wings, some of the people manning the levers had shouted some instructions and basic information at him.

There were nine levers to operate each wing. In the middle of those nine, stood a tenth – the main lever. This one was far larger. No one manned this one. Usually.

Hex heard the commotion around him. It seemed they were close to the edge of the storm. But pushing through seemed impossible. Even keeping the boat afloat seemed an issue. Looking at the weary and out-of-breath crew, Hex realized if they didn’t do anything drastic, they would lose even more people.

"What are you doing?"

He heard the person behind him shout in panic as he left his post at the second lever. Hex didn’t turn. Words wouldn’t help the guy relax.

He pushed through the incoming sand. Sand might be small and sometimes even soft to the touch. But when it blasted in your face with incredible velocity, it could cut you to the bone. Hex only managed to withstand it thanks to his body.

Once Hex reached the main lever, he started to operate it. He tried to. But to his shock, even his enhanced physical abilities didn’t help much. To make things worse, the main lever had an override function. Hex’s action threw his side off balance.

The people cried out. Some even cursed him.

’This won’t do. I need more power. Whoever designed this, didn’t consider the size aspect. Or, Sterling didn’t manage to hire giants to man his boat.’

The wind slammed into the boat. Hex almost lost his footing. His side did hit the wooden sides though. He groaned. It hurt.

Without much thought, Hex fused some of the soul dust into his heart. At the same time, he called upon the Dragon Bear Soul in his inner space. It still felt a bit weird but he knew there was no other choice.

The pain of his muscles ripping through his skin wasn’t easy to describe. All he knew, it hurt. It hurt unlike anything else he experienced.

His cry turned into a roar as his body turned into that of a giant bear. Unlike the last time though, Hex still retained rationality. For the most part.

He grabbed the lever and pulled. And rotated. The increase in size and strength helped. He managed to operate and keep the wind steady.

"Go. Help. There. We. Can. Push. GO!"

Talking wasn’t easy with such significant changes to his body. He managed to get his plan through, though. The people at his side scrambled to the other side.

Reinforced by numbers, the other side managed to put more strength in the wings. Seeing this, Hex growled at the captain. The old man wasn’t an idiot, he noticed. He understood Hex at once.

Hex roared at the howling wind. The wings flapped stronger and faster. They started to move forward. The sand blasted toward them. But the sails held on. As did the crew.

"PUSH!"

Hex shouted with everything he had. The people screamed in support. The wings tore through the sand.

They could see the edge. Hex continued to roar.

At the edge, the sand blew at them with more fury. Hex saw the wings starting to tear. He roared and pushed.

The wings flapped wild as they inched closer to the edge. The tears in it increased.

The crew noticed it too. Their hope wavered. One person fainted. Hex knew, with one down more would follow.

He had to do something. He glanced at the circles on the back of his hand. Neither were glowing. He didn’t have any resources to gather the space element. But he had Ice. Plenty of it. His inner space was freezing.

With a thought, he fused Ice in his roars. The wind froze. With it, the sand froze too. The next second, more sand and wind blew in, undoing the freeze. But that second was all they needed.

They pierced out of the storm. The last wind with sand devoured half of the wing. But they were out. With momentum.

"Brace for impact!"

The captain screamed. The crew huddled. Hex roared. The blast of cold wind parted the sand as the boat crashed into the hill of sand before them. They glided. But with impact. People bumped into each other. And then into things.

Screams and cries competed against the thuds and bangs.

Hex ducked too. He held on as the boat hit the hill. He felt the impact. His muscles burnt. He tried to ignore the sound of destruction. The boat wouldn’t survive. He knew. Everyone knew.

Finally, he felt the boat come to a stop.

Hex lay still. His heart thumped loudly. He could hear it through his chest. He didn’t realize he was sweating but the way his torn clothes clung to him couldn’t be explained otherwise.

He crawled onto his knees. His muscles and tendons spasmed as he stood up. Everyone around him lay still. Their chests were still moving. So, they were alive.

There were many more. Only a part of the people on board were above deck. Hex would check on them in a bit. First, he stumbled to the side. He had to check their location.

The sight before him left him speechless. To the end in each direction, all he saw was sand. Hills of sand. It lay still. It lay untouched. Timeless and lifeless.

This was his first time visiting Edune.

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