The third world

Spinning and twirling, Dante sailed his boat into the maelstrom. The crew did it so many times that everyone knew exactly how to handle things. When they came closer, they all let go of the control of the ship, letting it be taken into the void. The ghosts attached themselves to the railing on the sides to not be lost between the worlds. 

To be ejected from the ship and end up to be a lost soul in the infinite darkness was the main danger of the crossing. The shadows between the worlds were nothing, it was no part of the Ombrae and no part of the light. Nobody knew what it was, they only knew it existed. Lights could be seen far away in the emptiness, showing the light worlds of the universe but that was all. 

The ship was floating in the middle of nowhere until they reached a stream made of shadows in the void, in the in-between. The ghosts took out a different kind of navigating tool. It looked like a large metal box that they fixed to the back of the ship, the box had a single hole on the top and a helix. The ghosts took a liquid and filled the box with it before pressing some special button. The box activated and, after sounding like a detonation, the helix turned on itself, moving the full boat by magic in the darkness. 

There were no cardinal points in the void between the worlds and it was extremely hard to not lose yourself in such an environment, yet, Dante invented a compass able to find the other maelstroms as exit points. The maelstroms were random, it was impossible to predict in which world they would be appearing, as the only consistent maelstrom was the one in the Ombrae due to Zarkhaïm's powers.

Dante took a deep breath, this place was something unique, only known by the Jessadians, and he loved it. His whole crew loved it. It was silent and empty, and there was a terrible feeling of vertigo anywhere they could watch, but it was remembering these times when they were alive and sailing the infinite big blue in their world. With no knowledge, and no proper tools, having only the faith to find something at some point and leave their destiny to the god of the seas for them.

Tridjan was a legend, even amongst the oldest beings, no one knew if he was real, another kind of god or even just a myth. It was said that he had a massive body, taller than Archanium and Zarkhaïm. His skin was dark blue, like the ocean and the depths, they said he was covered with scales, and that his long hair was green like seaweeds. He was supposed to have two giant wings like the two other gods of light and darkness, but his wings were not meant to fly, they were sharp like razors, cutting the waves and making him swim faster than no one could ever see him. 

If Archanium was always represented with a sword of fire and Zarkhaïm with his silver claws, Tridjan was painted with a trident made with the bones of a mythical creature that was living in the center of the first world and that he defeated with his great force. Tridjan was known to be the balance in the world, a god who helped fishermen and inhabitants of the ports when they were in great danger, but it was also said that he was punishing immoral behaviors with tsunamis and was keeping populations around the sea under a certain morale.

Dante's crew knew it was just a story fishermen were telling themselves to appease their fear sometimes, yet, a part of them wanted to believe in this story. They all had a trident tattoo on their arm, like every fisherman or pirate coming from the same world. 

It had a religious significance back then, but with time, it became a symbol for the sea people who respected the code of honor, this code implied sparing children, not assaulting another ship during a storm, and saving those who seek help offshore. Some new generation people would call it the ancient piracy code, but Dante and his men were ancient. They were ghosts from a forgotten time already and they believed in the sea god. 

A few ghosts were taking a break on the main deck, they were playing poker, there was very little to do and the journey was always calm in the void. Dante was keeping an eye on his compass to search for a near maelstrom where they could dock. It always was the exciting part, they never knew in advance where they were going. In waiting, he was lying on the wood and admiring the emptiness. The pirate could not determine if he would be falling or not at some point, he didn't know if he was watching up or down.

He was almost falling asleep peacefully when the compass shined. Dante stood up immediately, and the ghosts were ready to receive the orders. They changed their direction taking a second stream of darkness and they headed up to a light in the night with a lot of enthusiasm. 

As they arrived closer, Dante examined the size of the maelstrom. He noticed in the past that the bigger they were the longer they remained open. He didn't want to spend another century, trapped in a world, waiting for a maelstrom to open and allow them to come back in Ombrae. He judged that there should be enough time for them to accomplish their mission for the prince and gather some interesting resources on the way. 

"We are taking this one!" Dante claimed to his crew.

The other pirates heard the orders and prepared themself for the diving. They orientated the ship in the right direction, pushed the motor of the metal box at its maximum, and packed it in safety in the hold quickly before they reached the black hole. Once again, they attacked themselves and, as the ship was sucked into the shadows, they were shaken from part to part by the waters of the other world opening its doors for them. 

The ship had no issues coming back to the surface quickly, the ghosts checked for eventual damages on the way as sometimes the crossing could make them hurt rocks or large submarine animals. This time, they broke nothing, the boat's hull was reinforced by the shadows from the Ombrae and this prevented them from sinking in almost every circumstance. 

Dante detached himself from the railing and took a step forward, his eyes sparkled wide-opened when he saw the gorgeous land in front of him. The sun was orange and the sky was red, there was land visible on the horizon and figures were visible amongst the clouds around the gigantic mountain. 

From afar, they could recognize the large winged beasts flying carelessly into the sky. Dante knew where they were, if he had a heart, it would be beating strongly in his chest. The smell of sulfur came to their nostrils and the heat was almost unbearable as the sun rays were reflected by the water. 

The pirate went into his cabin to take the correct map and analyze the situation to guide his men to find a safe place to moor. When he entered his room, he couldn't stop himself from staring at the trident hanging on the wall. He placed a hand on it for a moment and whispered.

"If you exist, we may need you, my god."

He then took out the map and laid it on his table, trying to focus as much as he could. The mountain they could perceive was no regular mountain, it was a volcano. Dante had a chill. The last time he explored this place, they were sailing on the other side of the world where people were warm and friendly. 

However, this world had a very particular political situation. The inhabitants Dante met were at war with two factions. They were fighting for decades against the flying creatures' masters they had seen before and dark elves populating their forests. Dante took the map and exited his cabin to join his men. He tried to smile and cheer them up, they didn't risk much since they were already dead but the idea of being stuck in the stomach of a beast was not the most exciting one. 

The pirate raised his voice, "We are going to dock between two cliffs, there is a breach in the land that we can use to hide our ship." But Dante was not as confident as he was usually, "Be ready," He tried to say strongly.

One of the ghosts came timidly to ask, "Dante, are we in the third world?"

Dante nodded and there was a sudden silence on the ship. This world had dragons, a lot of them. 

A thought came to invade Dante's mind, the prince sent him on a mission to find conflicts and collect information. How convenient it was for the prince that Dante sailed with his ship so close to the fighting zone.

The pirate tried to push his internal voice away but he opened his mouth in surprise without even noticing it.

What if…