Chapter 86: Farewell (2)
William sat by the sea. The lapping of the waves seemed to draw his thoughts towards the horizon, where the sky began to tint orange. His body, still aching, remained motionless as his mind replayed the last few days over and over. Beside him, Lía rested on a makeshift wooden cot, wrapped in a thick white towel that barely managed to hide her soaked clothes. The air smelled of salt, ashes, and blood.
Gathering his strength, William asked Angel to show him the battle that had happened moments ago. A second later, the ethereal image of the battle appeared before his eyes. Multiple magical explosions shook the air, columns of fire ravaged entire ship decks, and bursts of mana pierced the hull like blades of pure energy. It was a terrifying spectacle; if he hadn’t been there himself, he wouldn’t have believed it. Also, seeing how the ship’s shield appeared just an instant before being reduced to dust by that fireball made his skin crawl.
"Shit..." he whispered, incredulous. "That would have killed us. We fell into the water at the exact right moment... If we had hit a wall, a railing, a mast... we’d be dead."
Lía suddenly stirred and sat up, as if waking from a bad dream. She looked around, confused, and was surprised to see William sitting beside her.
"William...? Are we alive?"
"Yes," he replied without looking at her, still engrossed in what he had seen. "Barely."
She swallowed, absorbing the response. Then she turned her face towards the sky, surprised that it was already dusk.
"What happened?"
William shifted his gaze to her and, after a second of hesitation, spoke in a serene tone:
"We were ambushed. Twelve mages. A carefully planned trap. Fortunately, we survived by a miracle, as the director arrived in time and stopped them...."
He gave no more details. There was no point in dwelling on the massacre or the decisions he had made. There would be time for that later.