Several hours had passed, and the harbor had long since disappeared over the horizon.
Sonder watched it happen.
First, the dock workers became small figures moving along the pier.
Then the buildings shrank until the town vanished.
Eventually the land itself became a faint gray line, then faded into haze. Afterward, there was nothing.
The sailors had moved quickly once the captain gave his orders.
Lines were cast off, ropes hauled in, and sails unfurled above.
She had watched the canvas catch the wind like enormous wings, snapping as they filled with air.
The ship leaned slightly as it turned toward open water.
Now there was only ocean.
The deck was calmer than before. The frantic loading had ended, and the sailors had settled.
Now they just watched the sky and the water, sometimes adjusting ropes.
Most of the passengers had disappeared below deck.
Sonder remained near the rear end of the ship, or the stern, leaning on the railing.
She liked being able to see the things on the horizon. It made the ship's movement easier to understand, but now that everything had disappeared, she didn't know how far or fast they were going.
When she looked over the railing, she could see the breaking of the water and the wave foam that was left in the ship's wake.
She cast the Dico spell, and the blue lines appeared before her eyes.
While many pointed back to land, one stretched out in the direction where the ship was heading.
"Good," Sonder thought.
She was getting closer.
There was nothing left to decide.
Now she simply had to wait.
Night came slowly, but it came nonetheless.
Sonder had not moved far from the railing all day.
The sea stretched in every direction.
Nothing interrupted it.
No land. No trees. No towers. Just dark water rolling beneath a sky that slowly filled with stars.
Sonder rested her arms on the railing and looked down at the waves sliding past the hull.
For a while she wondered.
Could she speak to the sea? Communicate with it like she communicated with other elements?
There were stories she had read long ago of mages that calmed fierce and fiery waves with just a flick of their fingers.
If she could convince the sea to carry the ship gently, maybe the voyage would pass smoothly.
But then she didn't think she could.
The sea was too large.
Even if she poured all her strength, all her mana, into it, it would barely do anything.
Oceans were some of the oldest and largest things in the world. There was no way she could compare to them.
Vell could, she thought, but she couldn't.
Even if she could, calming the waves and the ocean itself, that would not be enough.
The wind also decided where ships went.
Storms affected how safe the journey would be.
Rain, lightning, currents, even shallow reefs, there were too many things that could change in a moment.
She would have to be one powerful mage to command all of them.
She sighed and then finally decided to rest her feet a rest and sat, leaning against the railing.
She looked up at the stars.
Part of her wished she could see the future.
If she could draw on the power of the stars and see what they reflected of the future, but then she remembered Vell's words that star magic was not reliable.
But some glimmer may give her a more positive outlook on her journey, which had already stretched for so long.
Then something shifted.
At first it was only a small discomfort.
Sonder frowned slightly and placed a hand against her side.
The feeling grew stronger.
A dull pressure beneath her ribs, like warmth gathering beneath her skin.
"…Hm?"
She looked down.
The fabric of her clothes began to glow faintly.
A soft yellow light seeped through the cloth at her side.
Sonder stared at it.
The glow grew brighter.