I stand astern on the deck of our fair ship. The captain bids me give our heading. The amulet I hold is what guides us. It hangs like a plumb line from my hand, swinging as though pulled by some unseen force. We turn our ship in the direction it swings and begin our adventure southward. We sail on smooth seas for a day when the swinging stops. An otherworldly mist descends upon us. From out of the fog sails the curséd ship said to hold our prize -- the Road to El Dorado. Its mythical charts and texts are sure to bring us untold fortunes. We come about and extend our plank. As we board, a tremendous unease envelops me. We scour the ship for our treasure, accompanied only by the ghostly voices of its missing crew. They surround us, an ethereal din of indistinct whispers. We find nothing in the hold and I return above deck. My stomach drops as I look across the starboard bow and see no other ship beside us. I run to the edge of the ship and strain my eyes, but the golden fog is all-consuming. I feel a sudden weight upon me, as if something has purchase of my very being. I look down at my hand and watch in horror as it melts into the mist. As it fades, I see my reflection in the waters below. I mouth something, but I cannot tell what it is through the fog before I disappear, brought body and soul to join that damned crew.
The warm summer air blows gently across the bow of our ship. I take my amulet in hand and hold it against the light of the rising full moon. Six pinpoints of light shine through in a familiar configuration. I relay our heading to the helmsman and we turn to the south, guided by the light of Libra. We sail with clear skies and calm seas, adjusting as we must to keep that constellation ahead. Somewhere beneath those stars is our prize -- Poseidon’s Sceptre. With it in our possession, we will never want for a favorable wind again. The sea will be ours. As if in rebellion, the sea becomes choppy without warning. A storm comes upon us suddenly, as though materializing overhead. We rush to drop the sails and secure the rigging before they are shredded in the tumult. I turn to port and look at those raging seas when a tremendous swell rises beside us. From out of the wall of water bursts a gargantuan beast. It looks at me with eyes like boulders as it arcs across our bow and plunges into the starboard waters. The sudden rocking throws me into the sea beside the beast. I struggle to break the surface and swim to safety, but can make no headway against the creature’s wake. As my breath runs down, unconsciousness nearing, I espy my reflection in the monster’s glittering scales. I try to say something, but bubbles stream from my mouth, obscuring the words. My amulet drifts past my eyes as they start to close.
My amulet turns, pointing southward. I leave it floating in the bowl and relay our new heading to the helmsman. Somewhere on the vast sea hides the elusive vanishing isle, home to the fabled Font of Life. We seek its life-giving waters, guided by my amulet. We sail at its heading until it begins to spin in circles. We drop the sails and scan the horizon, but see only open ocean. I look overboard and see a growing shadow surrounding our ship. There is a sudden jolt as a spire breaches beside us. More rocky features break the surface around us, and soon we find ourselves rising up into the air, our ship caught between some two outcrops. Soon we come to a stop and scan our surroundings -- we sit atop a large island, our ship nestled comfortably in a sort of valley. The captain orders us to disembark and explore the island, knowing that our reward must be somewhere out there. As I walk about the island, I see a cavernous opening in the rocks. I fashion a torch and head inside. Deep within the cave I come upon a large chamber. In the center of the floor is an enormous circular hole, entirely occupied by an immense bubble. I walk closer to get a better look. The heat from my torch ignites the gas within the bubble. There is a tremendous eruption of flame from the hole as the bubble explodes, throwing me back against the cave wall. The fire is quickly extinguished and water begins rushing in. Too injured to move, I lie against the wall in the darkness as the water slowly rises around me. As it reaches my chest, my amulet begins to glow. I look at the wall across from me and see my reflection. I gesture to the amulet and mouth the word “follow”. The light fades as the water rises over my head.
I stumble forwards in the darkness. I come upon a great wheel with an arrow pointing left. I grasp the wheel in my hands and turn it so that the arrow faces down. The arrow moves. I turn the wheel again. I hold it steady. The wheel fades. I am lost in the darkness.
I awaken in a strange bed with a headache that could level mountains. Captain Donovan lies reading in a bed across the room.
“Finally up, are you?” he says, looking up from his book.
“What happened?” I groan. My throat feels as salty and dry as our sun-parched sails. I reach for a glass of water by my bed and struggle to take a drink.
“You mean you don’t remember?”
I clear my throat as I sit up. A dozen barrels of black powder go off in my head. “I remember...some things. We were sailing to the New World. We got...caught in some fog. Lost our bearings.”
The captain nods. “We sailed blind for nearly three days,” he says. “By the time the fog lifted, we had strayed far off-course.”
“That’s right. We were in the horse latitudes. We were readjusting our heading when the wind stopped. We sat becalmed for...it must have been weeks. We started to run out of water. I thought for sure the fever would take us all. But...how did we end up here? Where are we?”
The captain gives me a quizzical look and sets his book down. “I thought you of anyone would know that.”
“Me? Why?”
“We’re on a small island near the edge of the Caribbean Sea. We ran aground here a few days ago. Our rudder must have caught an eddy that pulled us into a southerly current.”
“But we were sailing west. How did we get turned to the south?”
The captain gives me a long, curious stare. “You really don’t remember, do you? Hmm.”
“Remember what, sir?”
“You were found at the helm when we ran ashore. You were delirious, but you still had your hands on the wheel. You were the one who sailed the ship here. You saved our lives.”
I lay back in shock and feel something cool press against my chest. I reach up to feel the good luck charm my mother had given me before our expedition -- a perfectly ordinary amulet.