Ahtohallan's Lullaby

5. The Fifth Spirit

" Look how the mist is clear ! Today is a big day, kids !"

The man stroked vigorously the heads of Ryder and Honeymaren who were looking at the mist above themselves with sparkles in their eyes. It was white as they never saw before, almost letting some rays of light pass through it to reflect beautifully on the calm water of the ocean. As their uncle was saying, this day was a very special day. And this special day they were seeing what was almost a ray of sunshine for the first time.

" How do you want to pass through the waves, Uncle Kalle ?", asked the young boy as his sister was still admiring the pale grey fog just separating them from the sky.

The young man gave him a bright smile before letting go of his grasp the rope he was using to pull his boat on the beach, and then pointed the embarcation.

"The work on this boat is almost as old as you, boy", he declared proudly, patting the thick strangely shaped wooden cog, "It's been 12 years since I began to work on it. I studied the shape, the materials, the resistance... everything to make this very special ship hyper-stable, the waves will not drown it"

The two kids looked upon the ship in admiration, before young Honeymaren frowned.

"But there is a hole in your boat", she told him, pointing the middle of the cog where a thin but long rectangular opening was dug into the wood.

As an answer, their uncle bursted into laugher, placing his fists on his hips before grabbing a long wooden plank from inside of the boat.

"It's to place this wooden piece", he said playfully, "It's called a centerboard and it will weaker ther waves against my boat"

He was pretty sure of the success of his creation. Kalle was a mathematician, a scientist who studied the waves' movements during half of his life. His dream was to go beyond the dark sea, to see what was norther than north, and this day was the day of his departure.

"Don't fail, brother.", their father said in a smile as he pated their uncle's shoulder, "the kids are watching you"

Several Northuldras tried to cross the Dark sea in the past, but they never succeed at going beyond the waves. There were systematically thrown back on the beach, and their boat destroyed and reduced to ashes. Kalle already tried many times when he was younger, but this time it was different. He analysed, he calculated exactly everything that could potentially happen to built the best boat, a true war-machine against the ocean.

He gave a bright smile at his brother in answer.

"I won't", he declared in a self-confindent tone, " Take care of your family brother, You won't see me back here in a hurry !"

Their father rolled his eyes in a smile before caressing softly his necklace under the surprised look of his children. That was the necklace he was considering as his lucky charm. It was a quite simple pendant made in a polished grey-green stone with natural patterns in it. It was the one their mother used to wear but she gave it to their father just before her death.

" May the spirits protect you, brother"

They hugged each other before Kalle walked to his boat under the amazed look of the siblings. He turned to them to put a small kiss on their foreheads.

"Take care of your father, and when you'll be older, come to meet me on my secret desert island beyond the dark sea !", he winked at them before grabbing the oars on the ground to put them on the boat.

He untied the rope at the front of the boat before giving it to the kids. The girl took it and tied it around her belt. The kids then helped him push the boat to the water before waving at him as he finally jumped into his embarcation swaying between the waves. Their father put his hands on their shoulders as they watched Kalle draw away, fighting against the water as a knight on his charger. The waves were strong and the boat got submerged several times, but never drowned. It always came back to the surface of the water. After a dogged struggle, the boat disappeared suddenly behind the waves under the worried look of the two siblings, as they felt the hands of their father tense on their shoulders.