“You really like this story, son?” Marcus’ father asked as he gently stroked Marcus’ hair: “We’re on a cruise, son, enjoy the view of the tranquil ke. Look how beautiful it is under clear weather. It’s not everyday you see something like this.”

  “Just let him be, Elvin.” Marcus’ mother chuckled: “He likes reading, that’s very good. You wanted him to be a wyer, no?”

  “It’s Legends of the Burnt Queen and the One-armed Knight, a storybook.” Marcus’ father shrugged: “And - this cruise is expensive normally. It’d be a waste if we don’t get to enjoy the view of the ke and the beautiful weather.”

  “Your father has a point, my dear.” Marcus’ mother pinched Marcus’ cheeks: “How about we go read on the deck, Marcus? There will be better lighting there, it’ll be good for your eyes. And you enjoy the view when you’re tired!”

  “Okay.” Marcus finally agreed to leave the room.

  …

  “Thank you everyone for ing to our ship! What a wonderful day it is to be on a cruise through our beautiful Lake Aqiu!” The cruise guide, standing on the higher ded talking down to the guests on the general deck area, announced with aed voice: “Now, let me ask this of all our beautiful, handsome guests, what’s the old name of Lake Aqiu?”

  “The Green Emerald!” “The Lake of Great Eye!” “Lake Ayi!” All sorts of different answers were thrown at the cruise guide.

  “Did I just hear ‘Lake Ayi’?” The cruise guide poi the audieh one hand behind his ear, then moved his arm and finger around: “If that’s your ahen you’ll be correow, raise your hand if you know who Ayi is!”

  There are around a quarter to ohird of the audiehat raised their hands. Marcus was one of them, while even his parents had no idea on the name.

  “Good! And, looks like there are enough of you who know about this beautiful, toug and all the while tragic story of the past.” The cruise guid ughed: “Now, let me give you a quid lovielling of the story:

  “Long, long ago, during the ages of the kings, queens and old churches, before the rule of THE Burnt Queen, this ke was once a nd of pins, deserts and hills, with several small streams flowing through. And Ayi, was a famous songstress of the Kingdom of Golden Fmes. Her husband, the love of her life, was a royal knight of the king.

  “One day, the devastating news hit the Kingdom - the king lost his battle against a disease that had been troubling him and the entire kingdom, leaving the throne unattended, and ued. Though the King and the Queen were mu love, and had been dutiful rulers all their lives, fate did not bless them with a son.

  “That’s right, the story sounds familiar, isn’t it? If you had the suspi that it is somehow ected to a legend that we all know and love, theeeeeen you’d be right! Yes! This story is ected to the story of the Burnt Queen and the One-armed Knight! And our beautiful songstress Ayi, with the voice that’s said to have made even the angels cry, had to bid her beloved and honorable husband farewell, as he embarked on a jouro the church to be anointed, so that the only daughter of the King and Queen shall be the one iing the .

  “And, just like we all know, the whole ente of the queen lost their lives to the cursed fmes of the foul desert dragon Shyurak - all, but ohe one-armed knight, who was still a squire then lost his arm in the fight, and wielding a shield that was melded with a broken sword fron fmes, he and the Burnt Queen finally slew the dragon in the depth of the desert.

  “But our beautiful songstress Ayi, she waited day and night, only to receive the terrible hat her husbao the dragon fme. So, with great sorrow, she sa song in the ter of our ke, professing her love and loss, then drowned herself ireams. It is said that her undying love had touched the heavens, and it rained for a whole month. The tears of heavens created this very ke. And the Burnt Queen, in remembrance of her lost royal knight and the songstress and their love, his ke Lake Ayi.

  “Legend has it, that if you e to the ter of the ke, and you pay attention, you still hear her sing. It may sound terrifying, but it’s actually quite tranquil and toug.”

  …

  The sound of metal creaking, wires breaking and fmes burning filled the air. People were in a state of terrible panic, because the ship was breaking and sinking. And the body of the ship, made of alloy, rivets and bolts, had cracked into several parts. The moon was half covered by the dark clouds, the stars were hiding, and the night wind were mog and sneering at the people struggling to find a way out.

  But there seemed to be no way out, as they were literally at the ter of a vast ke, with no other ships or boats in sight.

  “Marcus! Marcus! Hold on tight, son!” Marcus’ father pulled Marcus by the colr and shoved him toward a piece of floating wooden debris, which seemed to be half of a broken chair. The cheap and unsturdy build of the chair now made it a perfect floating device, enough for both Marcus and his father.

  “Where’s Mom?” Marcus coughed as he tried to keep his head above the cold, slightly salty and bitter water: “Where’s Mom?”

  “Keep your hands on this. Don’t let go. I’ll look for her, alright?” Marcus’ father patted his hand and said: “I’ll find her.”

  …

  “Get off my so off!” They had already made it quite a distance from the inal position of the sunken cruise ship, many of the floating passengers were still around them. Some of them, upon seeing that Marcus was floating alone on a rge piece of broken wooden chair, immediately rushed over to his position and tried to take it from the young child. And just when two men and a woman whose hair and clothes had been a mess from being ier for so long almost mao push Marcus away, screaming and cursing, his father came floating on a pstic box with a piece of brokeal pipe in hand: “Get away from my son! You fuckers get away! I’ll fug bash your heads in! I’ll open a bloody hole in you!”

  One man still tried to throw young Marcus’ hand away from the chair, which earned him a few swings against his right shoulder and right forehead. Several other swings missed ao only a few spshes of water, but his bleeding forehead and painful cry from the strikes already served as a deterrence against any others who had simir thoughts in mind.

  “Where’s Mom, Dad?” Water dripped down from Marcus’ face, some of it was his tears and some of it was water from the ke: “Where is she?”

  “She’ll meet us when we make it to the shore.” Marcus’ father held onto him tight and started paddling with his arms a: “Let’s make it to the shore a her there, alright?”

  …

  There was no part of him that didn’t hurt when Marcus opened his eyes. He raised his head slightly from the pillow, and he saw that he was not wearing a shirt and had a few adhesive bandages on his chest and forearms. His waist was bandaged up by gauze. His bloody shirt ut on a small table, and his jacket was on the back of a small chair.

  There of water on the small table by his bed, aook it and chugged it down with his sore and trembling arms and fingers. Though he could not be more weling to anything that could quench his burning thirst right now, he still realized a distinctive and familiar taste lingering on his tongue.

  “You’re awake.” A female voice came just when Marcus was looking at the water: “Oh, and don’t mind the water - it’s only filtered once. We couldn’t afford better things here.”

  Marcus looked up at the young woman with a tone and an attitude - it was her than Gloria Lee, the ohat stole some case files on the emergency reparation group from the prect.

  “It’s fine, better, even. Thank you very much, for saving me.” Marcus struggled to sit up on the bed: “Where - where am I?”

  “A temporary pce I have for a hideout.” Gloria shook her head and threw Marcus a paper bag: “sider yourself lucky, the Blood Rainbow yesterday wiped out quite some dirt from the unity. They’re still ing up the bodies.”

  “How’s - how’s the man with me? Sitch?” Marcus caught the bag, though almost dropping it, and asked.

  “He’s dead.” Gloria shrugged: “They found his body on the docks. Why was he with you?”

  “We had a deal.” Marcus grunted and tried to get up from the bed: “Thank you, again. But I must get going. I’ll think of a way to repay you some other way.”

  “You were on that ship, weren’t you?” Just this moment, Gloria asked.