"What? You're suggesting we build a raft to leave this place?" Joanna frowned, her gaze filled with doubt as she looked at Duwei. "This is your brilliant idea? You think a flimsy little raft will carry us across the vast ocean back to the mainland? You must be insane!"
Duwei smiled faintly and calmly shared his theory:
"I believe this plan has merit. You, along with Vivian, are both incredibly powerful magicians. Either of you, under normal circumstances, could travel great distances with flight magic or some other means. Am I wrong? If your magical powers were intact, you'd have already used wind-based flight spells to escape this cursed island, wouldn't you?"
"Of course!" Joanna retorted coldly. "If I could still fly, I'd have left long ago."
"That's exactly the point," Duwei said with a sly grin. "You've lost your magic. But I suspect the issue isn't with you; it's with this island. I believe something here suppresses magic—perhaps a barrier or an anti-magic field of some sort. It might even be related to that terrifying beast you encountered. Now, the real question is: how far does this anti-magic zone extend? Does it only cover the island and a small portion of the surrounding sea? I think it's safe to assume the range isn't infinite."
Joanna finally understood. Without needing further explanation, she completed his reasoning. "So, your plan isn't to sail the raft all the way back to the mainland. You just need it to get us out of the anti-magic zone. Once Vivian and I regain our powers, we won't need the raft to make it back. Am I right?"
"Precisely." Duwei nodded.
"But what if it doesn't work?" Joanna frowned. "What if your guess is wrong? What if Vivian and I have been cursed, and our magic doesn't return even after leaving the island? Or what if it takes days, weeks, or even months to recover? Then what? We'll be stranded at sea, doomed to die on this makeshift raft."
"Then it's simply a different way to meet our end," Duwei replied with a raised brow. "Let me be clear: if we stay here, we'll starve within two or three days. This island may be covered in trees, but the edible roots and plants are scarce. I've already seen the signs while foraging for food. I can't guarantee we'll find anything tomorrow."
"We could fish!"
"Ha!" Duwei let out a hearty laugh. "Fish? Go ahead, try your luck! After that monstrous beast caused tidal waves and quakes yesterday, any fish near this island would have fled long ago!"
Although the idea seemed risky, Joanna had to admit, after some thought, that Duwei's reasoning was sound.
Staying meant certain death. Leaving, however slim the odds, offered a glimmer of hope.
And so, the next challenge was constructing the raft.
The lack of tools presented a daunting obstacle.
Even to chop down trees for a raft, they would need an axe—or at least a knife. But Duwei's group didn't even have a dagger between them.
Joanna, though a warrior, wielded only a long flute as her weapon of choice.
Felling trees with bare hands? None of them had such strength. Even Joanna, a seasoned swordswoman, wasn't capable of splitting a tree in half with a single strike.
Duwei initially eyed Joanna's magical armor, hoping to repurpose its metal plates into makeshift tools. Unfortunately, her armor, adorned with intricate carvings and hollow designs, lacked even a palm-sized piece of solid iron.
After much deliberation, Duwei finally came up with another solution: dragon scales.
Despite her reluctance, Vivian agreed to let them take a few scales from her beloved pet dragon.
Dragon scales were incredibly tough and durable—so much so that ancient legends spoke of heroes forging impenetrable shields from them.
Using the last remnants of her magic, Vivian soothed her fiery dragon, allowing Duwei to pluck two scales from its body.
It took an entire day to find a large coastal rock to grind the scales against until they were sharp enough to serve as crude blades.
Over the next two days, the trio worked tirelessly.
Duwei and Joanna managed to fell several trees, while Vivian skillfully used vines to bind the logs together into a raft. Duwei also crafted a few oars and scavenged large gourd-like fruits to use as water containers and flotation devices.
Finally, Joanna sacrificed her white cloak to fashion a makeshift sail.
Just as they were putting the finishing touches on the raft, Vivian remembered a crucial issue.
"What... what about my dragon?" she asked, her voice trembling.
The raft was far too small to accommodate a dragon.
Duwei and Joanna had anticipated this problem but had hesitated to bring it up.
In the past, Vivian had used magic to seal her dragon in a compact form that she could carry with her, summoning it whenever needed. But with her magic currently suppressed, she had no way to perform the sealing spell.
Duwei and Joanna exchanged a glance, both struggling to find the right words in response to Vivian's pitiful question.
Vivian, however, understood immediately. The naive girl burst into tears. "No! No! I won't leave my Radiant Sun! I can't leave him behind!"
She ran to the sleeping dragon, flinging herself onto its massive form and clinging to it desperately, refusing to let go.
Duwei sighed. Watching this innocent, tearful girl filled him with guilt.
But what other choice did they have?
There was simply no way to bring such a large creature with them.
Besides, deep down, Duwei didn't view dragons with the same reverence as the people of this world.
To him, humans were paramount. A dragon, no matter how awe-inspiring, was still just an "animal." In Duwei's mind, sacrificing human lives for the sake of an animal was an incomprehensibly foolish act.
And, if he were being honest, he might have even considered slaughtering the dragon to use its meat for provisions—were it not for Vivian. He knew such an act would utterly devastate her.
Despite Vivian's tearful protests, Duwei and Joanna forced her onto the raft.
To Duwei's mild surprise, the usually fierce Joanna displayed a rare tenderness toward her younger sister.
"Don't be surprised," Joanna said, noticing his curious look. She understood him well enough by now to guess his thoughts. "I've just lost my own dragon. I know how deeply it hurts."
Duwei saw a shadow of sorrow pass through Joanna's eyes.
The two women sat silently on the raft. Duwei, standing behind it, pushed the vessel into the water with all his strength before leaping aboard. Joanna adjusted the sail while Duwei gripped the oars, rowing with all his might.
Poor Vivian sat quietly, tears streaming down her face, staring back at the island that grew smaller with every passing moment. Her dragon—her Radiant Sun—was still there, left behind.
The waves were mercifully calm, a rare stroke of luck.
Even so, Duwei and Joanna were tense, their nerves stretched taut.
They both prayed silently, hoping beyond hope.
All they needed was to slip away unnoticed. To escape without encountering that creature. If the beast that could stalk and kill a dragon turned its attention to them, overturning their fragile raft would be child's play.
Duwei's only wish was to get far enough from the island for the two magicians to regain their powers.
"Almighty gods, grant us your protection," Joanna murmured under her breath.
Rowing was grueling for someone as slight as Duwei, but the primal drive to survive spurred him on. Though his arms ached and his muscles burned, he refused to stop.
By his estimate, they were already more than two hundred meters from the shore.
"How are you feeling?" Duwei called out to Joanna.
"Still nothing," she replied grimly, attempting to summon a wind spell to bolster the sail. The effort was futile.
"Keep trying," Duwei gritted his teeth.
But it seemed the gods had no blessings to spare for a heretic like Duwei.
Just as the raft had crept another hundred meters forward, the sea suddenly roared to life.
Without warning, massive waves surged, and the terrifying roar of that creature reverberated through the air once more.
In their horrified gaze, a towering wave—four or five meters high—rose from the previously calm waters, crashing toward their tiny raft with a deafening roar.
The impact was catastrophic. The vines binding the raft snapped instantly, scattering the logs in all directions. The three of them were thrown into the sea.
As Duwei plunged into the water, he felt an invisible force gripping him, holding him in place.
His body was paralyzed, and before he could even cry out, seawater rushed into his open mouth.
Darkness began to creep into his vision as a powerful whirlpool pulled him deeper and deeper into the abyss.
Down he went, sinking ever further into the shadowy depths.