The following day came and the ship continued to make haste to the Bara Drayago. The helmsman was at the helm getting them closer to their destination with every hour that went by; with the three captains standing with him and looking forward at the vast blueness before them and with the crew men on the deck floor manning the rigging and Mathew standing by the taff rail watching the ocean; looking into the distance with his mind caught in thought about what was ahead their path and if they were going to be able to do what had been tasked to them, about the mess he had left behind in Cape Mackerel and the obviously outraged state in which his father was in and above all his broken relationship with Mia. He had poured his heart out to her the previous night hoping that it would begin to take her back to the way she once felt about him and they could sort of pick up where they left off but she was still the same. She no longer looked at him like she was that close to throwing him overboar

"Huh gold," one of the crew men said with his eyes widened. "So much gold." "I see it, chests and chests full," another said. The mist had cleared up in a small area and there were two large open chests heaped with shiny pure gold objects; coins, cups, jewellery and so much more. "Don't fall for it. It's not real," Mia said. "Then how come we can both see it?" one of them asked. "I see it too," a third crew man said. "The chests are overflowing with gold. It's everywhere." "Because you all desire the same thing," she answered. "Now stay focused." The ship sailed on and the mist revealed to the captains and the other crew men what their deepest desires were; desires that only they themselves could see unless they both wanted the same thing. The crew men desired chests of gold and women and that was what they saw; chests overflowing with pure gold objects and beautiful women wearing seductive dresses that called out to them, waved to them, blew kisses at them, winked at them and ev

The journey continued and they were making good time. What they had left was a day and a half and each one of them hoped that they were going to make it; not only because what they were out there to do was very important but because they were eager for their portion of the treasure, they would have earned it so why not. The helmsman was back at the helm and the three pirate captains were by the forecastle deck looking out into the horizon; taking a little breather from what they had just been through in the mist for it had taken a good bit out of them. “Please, please let us never do that again,” Capt. Mohlenar said. “Agreed,” Capt. Grovergane seconded. “Agreed,” Mia said and they quietly chuckled to each other. “It was a lot but at least we made it out . . . Well, most of us.” “No one said it was going to be easy.” “I know it’s just . . . That was really a lot back there.” “It was,” Capt. Mohlenar said. “They don’t call it the mist of death for nothing.” “Well it was without a

Mia and her crew swam to the shores of the lake and looked around at where they had fallen. They were in a cave with an intricate network of irregular shaped tunnels in it; tunnels that looked like they had been made by something burrowing through the ground.“Goodness, now where are we?” Capt. Mohlenar asked as he and his fellow pirate captains shook the water off of their hats and put them back onto their heads.“I don’t know but by the looks of it . . . I’d say nowhere good,” Mia answered.“How are we going to get back up there?” Mr. Bear asked.“We can’t we’re just going to have to find another way out.”“How? We don’t even know where we are,” Capt. Grovergane said.“We just keep moving until we find our way out.”“Through these tunnels?” Capt. Mohlenar asked.“Yes.”“I don’t like the look of them.”“Neither do I,” Capt. Grovergane agreed.“Neither do I but we can’t get up there so the only other chance we have at getting out of here is through the tunnels,” she said.“What if the

Mia and her crew managed to escape the bats, with no one else succumbing to being eaten, and continued trying to find their way out of the cave and back onto real ground; turning left and right through another network of tunnels and coming to another cave, a much smaller one this time, with large roots poking out of one side of the walls, large roots they quickly began to climb as they led up to their way out, a big hole in the ground. They made it out and they were back in the forest; looking in all directions to make sure there was no creature anywhere near them to attack them. “Does anyone see anything?” Mia asked as they looked on. “No, it’s clear this way,” Capt. Grovergane answered. “It’s clear this way too,” Capt. Mohlenar said. “I think we’re in the clear . . . For now,” Mathew said. “Alright, we keep making our way to the coast,” she said. “To flag down a ship and return home?” Capt. Mohlenar asked. “If by home you mean going to see the time keeper and telling him that