Outside the city, East Wind Sea, Beast Bone Boat.
This was the barren sea. The tide had retreated who knew how many years ago, leaving behind only vast stretches of cracked earth and countless abandoned ships.
Countless enormous ships had sunk in East Wind Sea in the past. Now that the tide had ebbed, the ships that had vanished here a century ago had resurfaced. Their hulls towered like city walls, casting shadows over the ground beneath the glow of the fireflies.
Some of the enormous ships had been snapped in half by the waves, their hulls split and shattered in the middle, with their bow and stern separated. The raised bow jutted up so high that its mast towered over those of the ships nearby.
The sails had long since fallen to pieces. Only a few scraps still clung to the masts, ragged and eerie.
East Wind Sea had a special kind of firefly called the Sea Firefly. By day, they slept in the cracks of the parched earth. At night, they awoke and searched the ancient shipwrecks for food.
Sea Fireflies were no bigger than ordinary fireflies, but their light was nothing like the faint green glow of their common kin. Instead, they shone a brilliant red, like sparks flying through the night as they danced up and down.
The dampness inside the ancient shipwrecks encouraged plants to grow. Some flourished and spread from the wrecks to the outside, climbing the masts and adorning the eerie ships. Thick tangles of green vines lent them a quiet, secluded beauty.
Among the vast field of shipwrecks, in the deepest part of East Wind Sea, stood an enormous ship made from gleaming white beast bones.
The Beast Bone Boat had a giant tiger's head for a prow. The tiger threw back