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The road to India has been one of the biggest concerns of Europe during the fifteenth century. Each country wanted to be the first one to find that maritime way. Portugal and Spain were the two biggest players in that quest for spices, but what history is not telling is that England and France were also in the contest.

Cyrille Aubert was a famous French explorer who sailed on numerous seas, visited Africa and went above the Nordic Countries such as Sweden and Denmark. He was the one King Henri III was entrusting to carry out the biggest explorations.

He was of course a proud person, but his biggest pride was his son. Unfortunately, after giving birth to Thomas, his wife received the bad news that she wouldn't be able to have other children. Cyrille was happy with his little family nonetheless.

A couple years passed and little Thomas was already showing interests in navigation and astronomy, to the delight of his father. On the other side, though, Thomas was showing no interest in making friends, since he was the wealthiest of the neighborhood and other kids were squabbling with him.

In an attempt to help their son increasing his sociability, they hired a couple of Irish wolfhound to take care of their huge dwelling. Luckily, that couple only had one pup as well. Of course, at the beginning, Thomas and Florimel were shy towards each other, yet quickly became friends and later, inseparable.

Time passed and by the age of twenty, the two friends began to follow the way they would pursue the rest of their life. Florimel had already become one of the best housekeepers in the country and Thomas was studying medicine.

One day, Cyrille came home and proudly announced that he had been chosen to lead France in discovering the road to India. Once again, Thomas pleaded his father to accompany him in this big adventure and surprisingly, he accepted. As good news never comes alone, the hound could not be a part of this trip, which enormously saddened Thomas. But that was a chance he would only get once...

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October 10th 1486

Dear diary,

Today is the big day! I really had troubles finding sleep last night, but I will survive. I think I'm ready to face it; well it's not like I will go in expeditions during my entire life. I still want to finish my medicine studies when I come back...

I think the toughest part will be separated from mom and Florimel for so long, but since I'm a little boy, I always dreamed to accompany father on his trips. Anyway, I have to set the last preparations for the journey...

Thomas

With a sigh, the young boy closed his diary and got up. "Are you ready to go Master Thomas?" A tall Irish wolfhound entered the human teenager's room.

"Of course I am Florimel." He gave him a small smile before walking behind a wooden board, so he could dress.

"Master Cyrille requires your presence in thirty minutes for departure." The hound laid the clothes he had brought with him on top of the dress.

"Yeah, yeah... Thank you by the way." He picked up the clothes and rapidly dressed. "And please, for the hundredth time, stop talking so solemnly with me..." He walked next to his friend and looked up at his pale grey eyes. "Not because my fa-"

"I'll miss you so much!!" Florimel picked him in his arms and hugged the young boy really tight.

"Oh, come on, you're going to make me cry." Thomas giggled and patted his tall friend's back. Then, the hound let go of his embrace and looked at him with sad eyes.

"Will you?" His question surprised the human for a second.

"What kind of question is that? Of course I'll miss you!" He gave him a sincere smile. "You're my best friend, we grew up together, I feel like I'm leaving a part of my life behind, but I promise I'll be back for you!" He gently rubbed Florimel's furry arm.

"You promise?" His eyes lighted up a bit.

"I promise!" Thomas repeated.

"You better!" The hound finally smiled, his tail wagging slowly.

"We should go in the dining room for breakfast." With a nod, they both left the human's room to start their day.

October 11th 1486

Dear diary,

I thought I was a tough person, but I cried once the boat left the dock, away from all the others, but still... I wasn't surprised though when father told me what my role would be during the expedition; since I'm the only one outside father who knows how to read and write, and also because I ended my second year of medicine studies this summer... I'll be the priest of this ship!

Anyway, father told me that the journey to India would approximately last three to four weeks. And since, apparently there's a quicker way to get there without skirting Africa, we're sailing straight west... I trust my father and all, but I'm still a bit sceptical to where we should go...

Thomas

October 13th 1486

Dear diary,

I'm already bored of reciting like a thousand prayers every day and listening to the entire crew confessing their sins to me; I'm only 20 for God sakes... So far, I like the feeling of being surrounded only by water; it's like if we'd be the only one on that earth. I wonder what we're going to face once we reach India...

I've been told that ladies are very beautiful and the lands are rich in food and spices; can't wait to see that!

Thomas

October 16th 1486

Dear diary,

Well, I haven't written in a few, since most of the last couple days, I've been quite busy. There's that clumsy and obviously stupid guy that broke his ankle after he dragged on the floor I cleaned seconds before. I even yelled at him not to step on the wet floor, but yeah... Then there were a couple of guys who got seasick after being completely drunk the night before...

I'm starting to believe that I'm accompanying just a bunch of idiots, except my father of course, who seems to keep his calm in every situation; I'd love to have his patience...

Thomas

October 18th 1486

Dear diary,

Oh God my head hurts! I was so drunk last night, I came and wrote something, but it was so incomprehensible that I've decided to tear the page off... I've only discerned some scribbles relating a broomstick... I don't know why I would write about it since sweeping the floor isn't that exciting...

And well, today, it's been hard for me to concentrate with that headache even after taking a couple of mint infusions... So dad gave me the permission to rest until dinner time, since I wasn't productive enough for his taste. I know, I'll be doing some chores tonight, but I don't care right now...

Thomas

October 23th 1486

Dear diary,

No more alcohol for the rest of my life!!! I'm so glad I can finally rest a little bit! I've just ended a five days marathon of non-stop chores my dad gave me... Floor sweeping, ship's hold cleaning, taking care of the growing seasick people, praying for everyone during meal and even cooking... I'm just exhausted...

And well, today's marking the 14thday of this expedition... and I have to admit, I miss Florimel so badly right now! I miss his presence, his contagious behaviour, his smile and dearly hope he's doing alright. I know, we'll have a ton of stories to share once I get back and I'm so looking forward to that day!

Thomas

October 25th 1486

Dear diray,

Unbelievable! I've never thought the sea could be that strong. A huge storm came upon us, making the boat dangerously pitch. We received a couple of huge waves, some were small, but others were bigger than the boat itself! We're lucky we didn't lose any of our men. I have to admit that I got scared by it; I've never seen something so powerful before!

But the major downside of the whole thing is that our provisions storage has been severely hit by the water. So, actually, guys are working the hell out of them to get the food out, to put it in a safe and dry place, so the moisture won't attack our already decreasing amount of rations... So while they are taking the food off from the place, I'll make sure the storage is completely dry before putting the supplies back...

Thomas

October 28th 1486

Dear diary,

Well the future's not looking so bright right now... A second man passed away two hours ago with the same exact symptoms as the other who died yesterday... I'd put my hand in the fire that the reason of their death is due to a food intoxication, but I simply don't know how to cure that illness.

Their body reactions to this obviously new disease are rather frightening; it started with some clear fluid vomiting, then progressed to uncontrollable diarrhea of clear fluids as well and the odor that was emanating from it was fishy and pretty strong. All the way I was taking care of them, I had to wear a piece of clear cotton in front of my mouth since it's probably by that way they caught this disease. After inconclusive hours of solutions searching, while their skin turned into a scary blueish-grey color. I've decided to put them in quarantine and giving them lot of water since their skin reaction was clearly due to a lack of hydration...

For the moment, none of the other sailors have these symptoms... We're going to be extra careful not to touch other's things and clean the entire ship thrice a day and of course, wearing a cotton rag in front of our mouth...

Thomas

October 29th 1486

Dear diary,

Well I'm glad that, for the moment, nobody has been hit by that mysterious disease. Of course we threw the corpses into the ocean, after doing a little ceremonial in their honor. We continue to be extra careful in our every move...

On a more positive note, we can finally perceive some mountains; my father told me that we're about a day away from being close to these mountains. I simply just can't wait! But at the same time, temperature is starting to be very cold, but father told that it was nothing and that he planned the whole thing with bringing warm clothing. He learned his lesson after he went in the northern lands three years ago. In that kind of situation, I completely trust my father!

Thomas

October 30st 1486

Dear diary,

We finally made it! We're on the coast! I was so happy to set foot on earth for the first time in three weeks, but to my surprise, we didn't see any signs of life. The scenery, on the other hand, was breathtaking; plains with infinite trees with mountains all around! But I'm more excited about meeting the Indians and to taste their food!

Tomorrow we'll go explore inside a huge valley we found earlier; maybe that's where the locals are living...

Thomas

October 31st 1486

Dear diary,

Bad news! We went deep in the valley, maybe a little too far... We arrived to a point where the huge river was split in half by an island and decided to go right. And just like that, the boat ran aground the bottom of the river... We had to get off the boat and notice the damage; a nice hole in the hull... And the worst is that we absolutely can't move...

So I think, that's where our ways part, dear diary. I'll keep you close to me, but I won't talk to you for a good while. I just hope this is not the end...

Thomas

The young adult closed his precious leather-covered book and put it in his shoulder bag, along with all his necessary things to proceed to little healings. He, then, walked next to his father, who was looking at the horizon. "What are we doing now, father?"

"Well, to be honest son, I don't really know." The boy puzzlingly looked at his father. It was the very first time he was seeing him unsure and losing his unwavering composure. "Since, there's still no sign of life, I think we'll have to build a makeshift shelter so we can hide and stay warmed from the different weathers while we work on the ship."

He was right, even if we were late in the month of October, the temperature was pretty cold; the tree leaves had already turned red and orange. The doctor-to-become softly nodded and had to face the facts; there was no way they could go back in France without repairing the boat; and to add to that, the freezing temperature wouldn't be helping.

Cyrille looked at his son and saw deception in his eyes; the determination, the courage he dedicated his life to inculcate to his only child was fading away. "Look at me Thomas." The boy looked surprised; his father was so rarely calling him by his name and raised his eyes to see his paternal smiling at him. "I know we'll have to face a ton of hardships in the next couple days we're going to stay here, but nothing's over yet!" He ruffled his son's hair. "Think about your mother, Florimel, our friends; they are all waiting for us to comeback and that's what we're going to do." His smile widened.

"Believe me son; we're not going to stay here for the rest of our life! Every problem has its solution and we're going to find that clue to repair the boat, I promise!" The young man couldn't help but smile a little to his father's words. He was right, this wasn't the time to give up, it was the time to roll up their sleeves and find a way to get back home.

**Two weeks later, with Thomas' POV**

I wiped the sweat drops with the back of my hand as I sighed of relief escaped my mouth. Taking a step back, I could now admire the work we've spent on the last two weeks. For sailors, we did a pretty good job in building what was clearly looking like a house. It was big enough for the twenty of us to sleep in without stepping on each other. Of course, we didn't put any windows since we hadn't glass and in the middle of the shelter was the fire pit; and to keep as much of heat as possible, we only made a little covered hole in the roof, so the smoke could escape.

The boat was also on the verge of being completely repaired. What was difficult to conciliate though during those last two weeks was to be able to stay warm during night since the shelter had a lot of holes at the beginning, and also because we had to wisely choose the wood pieces we wanted to take off from the boat to seal the hole, so we wouldn't be so handicapped once we get back on the sea.

And honestly, it was time we finish, because nights were becoming colder. What's strange though is that we haven't met any human or fur form since we landed here. Of course, we saw a couple of feral animals which we hunted for food... Maybe we should explore a bit more, that's mainly impossible that there's not a single human-being here; we're in India for the love of God!

"Alright, listen all!" My father's booming voice caught everyone's attention. "I'm very proud of all of you!" He continued while everyone was gathering. "We all put our guts, our blood and our heart into repairing our boat and resisting against the unwelcome cold! We're about to finish repairing it and in two days, we'll be on our way back!" We all roared with enthusiasm and raised our fists in unison. "So for tonight, let's celebrate our hard work!!" Father yelled over us, getting approval bellows form all of us.

A couple of hours passed and we were all inside the shelter, playing card games, telling dirty jokes and drinking wine or Brandy. And now they were saying stupid one-liners a woman would never say to his husband...

"That was a great fart! Do another one!" One of the guys threw and the others laughed.

"I'll swallow it all... I love the taste!" Another one yelled right after, making people laugh even harder.

"It's way tooo biggg, that'll never fit in my tight..." He didn't even finished and everyone was shedding tears, even one of the guys fell on the floor and stayed there, laughing.

And even if I was probably as drunk as them, not a single joke made me smile; in fact they were pretty boring. Luckily for me, my bladder reminded me that sometimes you have to evacuate the extra liquid you're ingesting. "Be right back guys!" I said with a bit of tiredness. I started to stagger (to walk, in my head) towards the door.

"Looks like someone need some relieve!" One of the guys said before stalling his Brandy. The other sailors heartily laughed again. I gave him a silly glare which made them guffaw and then disappeared behind the door.

The cold air instantly hit my skin as soon as I stepped outside as it seemed to be way colder than the previous evenings. The night was clear with no clouds; the entire universe seemed to look at me through the stars and the shining moon. 'They are completely drunk, laughing at everything.' I sighed, the hot air escaping my mouth combined with the cold environment making a momentary fog in front of my eyes. I walked past the house and went to the edge of the woods.

It was in our interest to do our needs remotely from the house so the wild animals wouldn't find our house. So I stopped next to a huge tree, facing the vast forest, at a fair distance from the house, though I could easily hear their stupid laughter and started to urinate. And like every other drunken man would do in that situation, I was carefully looking at my member so I wouldn't stain my clothes.

But suddenly, a movement to my left caught my attention, making me stop to focus on my duty. I started to scrutinize the area, but couldn't see anything since it was completely dark outside. Thinking it probably was only a rabbit, I refocused on my job. Then I noticed that, of course, I peed myself...

"FOR THE LOVE OF JESUS!!!" I shouted as I scanned the surroundings one more time. "LOOK WHAT YOU'VE DONE TO MY TROUSERS... all wet now..." I mumbled the last three words, ashamed. But when I looked up again, my body froze. About twelve meters away from me was two glowing dots, not moving as well. I stood there watching while the other thing seemed to do the same.

"WHAT ARE YOU??" I cried with my drunken voice. As I made a step towards it, I stumbled on a root a fell nose first. Cursing once again, I clumsily got back on my feet again and stared where the yellow dots obviously weren't anymore. "JUST GO BACK FROM WHERE YOU CAME!" I yelled one last time before starting to walk to our house. As I was about to open the door, I was sure I heard the nearby bushes budge. 'Only the wind Thomas, don't scare yourself...' I calmed myself and then, went inside.

The morning came, exactly the same way all the other did; the wind slowly wafting on the branches, the birds calmly chirping and a couple guys snoring... Stretching my arms and legs, I, not without difficulty, got up from my fir branches bed. My mouth was so dry from the previous night; I absolutely had to drink water. I walked to the door and opened it. Seeing what was now facing me outside, I had no other choice but rubbing my eyes. I couldn't believe it... The river had frozen over the night!

"FATHER, FATHER!!!" I yelled and soon heard the cacophony of people getting up at the same moment and running to the door to see what was going on.

"What's this all about so-." My father didn't get the time to finish his sentence as he saw with horror what happened during the night. "It can't be solid!" He stated with an obvious concern tone. "Pierre, go and have a look at that ice!" He ordered. The brave man didn't waste any time and ran past me and went towards the river. He was about to put a feet on the ice when my father intervened. "Hey, test it with a rock, you pathetic fool!" He rolled his eyes as the young man stopped and approved with an impressed glare.

Pierre found a little pebble and threw it close enough from him. The ice didn't even crack a single inch. Now taking a much bigger rock, he needed to give himself a swing to throw it with power. We all watched it as if the time was suspended for a few seconds, before a loud thump brought the normal time speed back. The rock didn't pass the ice, but managed to crack it.

"It can't be serious!" My father's arms dropped, but before he had the time to add something else, the ice started to crackle until the boulder suddenly disappeared in the water. "I am distraught..." My father only added with his eyes lost in the rising sun.

"Does that mean the boat won't move until the ice melt?" I asked with a shaky voice.

"I'm afraid so..." Cyrille replied, bowing his head in defeat.

"So we'll have to stay here until the ice goes away??" One of the guys yelled. The sigh my father did was all the answer he could give; making the crew instantly going insecure. "Listen all!" That caused everyone to shut their mouth. "Nothing's over yet! I know we can go through this without any problems. Each and every one of you are in my crew because of lots of reason, but the main one is... because you're all courageous! With some preparation and time, the only result we will have is success!! I know there's going to be hard times, but I know we'll be able to face them all! SO, ARE WE GOING TO GO THROUGH THAT ICE TIME??" Everyone yelled their approval. "That's what I want to hear! Alright, let's start to prepare ourselves!"

The following days went by pretty quickly; we started to make ourselves supplies for the upcoming ice time; taking down trees, hunting some small animals. But each time I was venturing in the forest, I had that impression that something was watching me, not one of the other guys, but something I didn't know...

The sun was setting, announcing the time we have to get back in our shelter. With the few days we had since we knew we were locked up here, we refined the shed with a lot of fir branches for isolation and added a couple of tree branches to plug the remaining holes. Tonight's dinner was rather lean; two rabbits, three carrots and a bread... for the entire gang! We had to eat less per day if we wanted to go through that ice time...

"Have someone seen Bartholomée? Haven't heard of him in a little while..." One of the guys asked while we were watching our not so appetizing meal. Everyone then seemed to notice Bartholomée's sudden disappearance.

"He still must be outside!" My father instantly got up and pointed at me. "Go prepare the harquebuses, I have a bad feeling!" In five minutes, my father, two guys of our crew and myself were ready to go outside. "And if someone touches our meal, I swear to God you'll be private of eating for the next week!'' My father said before opening the door.

A strong wind welcomed us as we stepped outside, the sky was partly-cloudy and the moon was already up. I couldn't avoid shivering even with the warm clothes we were wearing. "So, we stay together whatever betides!" My father dryly ordered. "Thomas, you take the front row with me. Louis, Francois, you take the back row." He had to raise his voice since the wind was blowing really strong. We nodded and started to walk towards the forest.

"BARTHOLOMÉE! BARTHOLOMÉE!! WHERE ARE YOU?!?" We were advancing on our guards, Louis and I having an oil lamp to enlighten us while my father and Francois had the harquebuses. We continued there for five long minutes, still going deeper in the forest; a single branch cracking making us jump in terror.

As we past a big stone, I detected a huge motionless mass ten meters away from our positions, at our right. Pointing the direction to my father, we stopped moving and looked around for any suspicious dangers, but none were in sight. "Bartholomée, is that you?" My father whispered as we made couple of cautious steps. No answer...

We continued to carefully advance, our nervousness slowly building up. We were all firmly holding our arm or lamp, the cold air wasn't affecting us anymore as sweat was profusely going down our face. We stopped five meters away from the still unmoving mass, details could now be distinguished. A long brown ponytail with white trousers; it couldn't be anyone else but Bartholomée.

"Bartholomée is it you!?" I stated unsure and made another step forward. My father took my arm before I had the chance to make another step.

"Stay on your guard young man!" That's pretty incredible how six words can scare your entire soul, but it did. Gulping unnaturally, I let my father steps toward and followed him really tight. We stopped two meters away and look around one more time for foes, but nothing could be heard once again. Bartholomée was on the ground, his back facing us. In fact, it looked like he was sleeping. "Go check after him, everything's out of danger here!" My father asked me.

"Wh- W- What??! No, I won't go!"

"Why's that?" He looked at me with deep eyes. "You're a man now, so grow up a little bit!" He gave me a little push so I was now a little more than a meter behind him. I stopped there and took a big breath. The other three were following me closely as I made a few steps and kneeled behind him.

"Hey! Bartholomée, what are you- AAAAAAAARRRRRRRRRRRRRRGGGGGGGGGHHHHHHHH!!!!" While I was gently shaking his shoulder, his head turned towards me, revealing a bloody carnage! In a split second, I was back behind my father, trembling like a sheet and white as milk.

"Oh God..." Was the only thing my father could say as he put his hand in front of his mouth. "Louis, have a look at him." Louis also shakily advanced towards him and in one swing, turned the corpse on its back, which made the four of us retained our breath once again.

Not only his face was completely bloody, but his entire body was. His throat has been shredded while his stomach has been completely opened, exposing his organs. We were all terrified by that scene, unable to move. We stayed there a good minute which seemed to last a day, before my father cleared his throat. "You should do a little prayer for our dear companion." He solemnly asked me. Hesitantly advancing, I finally stopped near the body and touched his forehead. Closing my eyes, I recited the Angel of God prayer:

"Angelus Dei, qui custos es mei, Bartholomée et credita est divina bonitas, praeluceat, defendunt, propulsandam et dirigit. Nomine Patris et Filii et Spiritus Sancti, Amen. "

**Cyrille POV**

I've seen a couple of traumatized people in my life, but seeing my son in that state makes me feel a bit guilty to have brought him on this expedition... Maybe he isn't ready to see such horrible things yet... He hasn't talk since he finished his prayer... and it was yesterday. His gaze is empty, there's not that passionate flame that was dwelling in him anymore...

And I'll admit, I'm worried, very worried; not only because of my son's situation, but with the entire thing. Nights were cold back when I visited the northern lands, but it was nothing compared to here... And that thing...! What beast could kill a man like this? We'll have to be careful from now on when we walk outside the shelter's perimeter...

For a moment, I stopped looking at the fire, dancing and crackling, giving the shelter a bit of animosity and looked one more time at Thomas. For once, he looked relaxed, but there was still something in his look that indicated me he wasn't 100% back.

"Son, wanna play a game of chess against your old father?" I smiled and tried to joke.

"No thanks father." He returned a faint smile to me. "I think I'll just go outside for a walk..." He slowly got up.

"What are you talking about? It's full night and it's freezing outside. It's completely senseless son!" I raised my voice and arched an eyebrow.

"I won't go far father I promise, I'm an adult now, I can take my own decisions!" He grabbed himself one of the warm coats and walked towards the door.

"You have 15 minutes, and then I'll come to get you by the ear if it's necessary." I pointed a finger at him.

"Alright, father..." He rolled his eyes and got out. I watched him leave the shelter with a bit of deception as I felt so impotent in succeeding to cheer up my only son.

"I want to take my revenge, captain!" Pierre walked in front of me with a defying smile.

"So, you sincerely think you can beat me, young man!" A huge grin crossed my face, pretending not being affected by my son's actual state of mind. He nodded and just sat on the unoccupied chair. "Alright, then!" We placed the checkers and started to play.

I looked around and gave a global look on each of my men and I wondered if anyone of them knows that we definitely aren't in India, but on some lost land. 'Could it be possible that during that terrible tempest, we derived from our path and came here? If it's the case, what's behind that infinite tree field? Is there any human or fur civilizations, unknown animal species?'

"Huh, captain, it's your turn..." Pierre brought me back on the game.

"Yeah, of course Pierre, was pondering on my upcoming move." I cleared my throat and adjusted my thinking position; now leaning on my right elbow, my index and thumb supporting my chin. 'I wonder if any of them is ready to face snow, because it is obvious that it's only a matter of days until the first flakes appeared in the sky...'

"Alright, young man, take a look at that mo-."

"AAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAAA-!!!" The long scream abruptly silenced made me jump from my chair. My heart racing, I ran next to the door and grabbed a Harquebus.

"THOMAS!!!"