The Children of the White Lions: Volume 02 - Prophecy (55 page)

As he watched Captain Scrag berate the helmsman for one reason or another, Nikalys muttered, “I sincerely doubt that.”

“Truly, Nikalys. Captain Scrag is a good soul.”

“I will have to take your word on that.”

“Someday, I will tell you about an expedition he and I took to Cartu. Back when the captain’s hair was still black. You would enjoy it. It involves a turtle and a merchantman from Quan.”

Curious already, Nikalys eyed the hillman.

“How about today? I’ve nothing else to do.”

Broedi shook his head and rumbled, “Not true.” With a nod of his chin, he indicated the lower deck. “Your meal has arrived.”

Looking at the main weather deck, Nikalys saw Wil and Cero emerging from the stairwell, both carrying wooden platters. From where he stood, it appeared they had brought him dried boar meat and red pears. His stomach grumbling, he was halfway to the stairs when he called over his shoulder, “Tell me your story later!”

Nikalys hurried down the steps two at a time, his mouth already watering.

26
^th
of the Turn of Luraana, 4999

The rain drops pelting Nikalys’ neck and ears felt like a thousand tiny, cold steel daggers stabbing his skin. Jagged lightning cut the blackness around him, providing brief glimpses of the massive black waves coursing about the Sapphire. His feet spread wide, Nikalys held tightly onto the railing on the aft deck, a dozen paces ahead of the helmsmen.

Despite the violent sea and gusting winds, Nikalys refused to believe his comment regarding their uneventful journey had anything to do with the storm raging around them. Captain Scrag, on the other hand, vehemently disagreed.

When the first muffled rumbles of thunder had rolled over the Sea of Kings a few hours past sunset, the captain had shouted below, demanding Nikalys come up to the main deck. Nikalys was reluctant at first, but after Broedi suggested he comply in order to avoid a tongue-lashing, he trudged up to the weather deck. Nervous at what awaited, he emerged from the stairwell and stared around him, stunned by the sea’s state. Moonlight lit up waves twice as tall as they were a short time ago.

The sea’s growing fury, however, was nothing compared to the captain’s already raging storm.

Captain Scrag had grabbed Nikalys by the arm, marched him to the stern, faced him west, and ordered that he watch the approaching storm. A wall of clouds lit by the dual moons slowly marched east, swallowing the stars and burping out little bursts of lighting. When the waning crescent of White Moon disappeared, the ship and sea seemed otherworldly bathed in Blue Moon’s light alone.

Once the looming storm covered Blue Moon, plunging the Sapphire into pure black, Nundle and Broedi came up on deck. The pair moved about the ship, creating magical lanterns by binding yellow and amber balls of light to various points of the ship.

The wind picked up, whistling through the ship’s rigging and whipping its sails. Just before the full force of the tempest hit, Captain Scrag retrieved Nikalys from the stern and moved him to the aft deck, insisting that he “enjoy the blasted uneventful voyage.” He supposed he should be grateful the captain did not strap him to the top mast as threatened.

The storm had been raging for some time now. Shivering in the cold rain, Nikalys squeezed the railing tight as the waves tossed ship and men. He could not have been wetter if he were swimming in the sea itself.

Captain Scrag’s booming voice cut through wind and thunder as the old sailor yelled orders to the crew, telling them to tie off one thing, loosen another, or batten down something else.

A sudden, bright flash cast stark, sharp-edged shadows along the length of the ship. The lightning’s partner, a deafening crack of thunder, shook the world. The incredibly close strike shocked his eyes, leaving him blind for a moment. He squeezed his eyes tight and waited for his night-sight to return. For a few moments, the world was nothing but roaring wind, creaking wood, and thrashing seas.

Cracking open his eyes, he spotted a sailor scurrying across the deck, lit faintly by the globes of magical light. Broedi stood near the mainmast, staring into the night and using every gift at his disposal to hold back some of the storm’s fury and smooth the ship’s way. Nundle was below deck with the rest of the Shadow Mane soldiers, riding out the storm. Unlike Broedi, the tomble was unable to ‘touch Strands of Water’ so he was doing what he could to keep the men from getting ill.

With the sails furled and tied down now, the masts and yardarms looked like three skeletal hands stretching into the black, trying hard to cling to the rigging. The captain had used the strong wind to drive the Sapphire east right up until the storm struck. When the gusts threatened to rip the sails to shreds, he ordered them stowed.

A cry arose from the sailors on the main deck below. Their words were lost to the wind, but the alarm in their voices worried Nikalys. Looking down, he spotted a handful of the men, pointing to the south. Turning his head, he saw the silhouette of a massive wave just off starboard, backlit by another burst of lighting. A black wall of water as tall as the main mast loomed over the Sapphire.

“Oh, Gods…”

The wave closed quickly into the halo of light cast by the magical lanterns on deck. Nikalys shot a panicked glance to Broedi, praying the White Lion could somehow hold back the wave, but found the hillman with his massive arms wrapped around the mainmast and his eyes closed.

Captain Scrag’s voice shrieked through the night, “Wave starboard! Hold tight!”

Nikalys crouched low and squeezed the aft deck railing, feeling the wood crack under his grip. He took a deep breath just as the colossal swell rammed into the Sapphire.

As seawater rushed over him, Nikalys’ mouth shot open from the shock of the cold and the sea rewarded him by filling it with salt water. Choking, he shut his mouth before swallowing more of the ocean. The ship listed dangerously to port, the creaks and groans it made sounding more wounded animal than wooden ship.

The wave rushed by quickly, leaving Nikalys squeezing the railing and coughing up seawater. The ship righted itself, slowly swinging back to starboard. For two thudding heartbeats, there was nothing but the roar of wind and sea paired with the wooden, groaning protests of the Sapphire.

“Man overboard!”

Nikalys’ eyes shot open, burning from the salt of the sea. He stared to the deck below and spotted a number of sailors now pointing north. More men picked up the chilling call, their words clearly cutting through the wind.

Without a moment’s hesitation, Nikalys released the railing and rushed portside, stumbling as the ship shifted beneath his feet. Grabbing hold of the port rail, he stared into the murky blackness below. He caught a brief flash of light as a wave rolled, revealing one of the magical lanterns still bound to a piece of the ship. A moment later, another swell obscured it.

“Blast!”

It had only been an instant, but Nikalys had caught Wil’s panicked face illuminated by the glow, some thirty feet from the ship. Nikalys wondered what had possessed his friend to come topside.

Captain Scrag unexpectedly yelled into his ear, “Do you see him?”

Turning to find the captain beside him, Nikalys pointed in the direction of the young soldier.

“There somewhere!”

The two men stared into the blackness, searching, scanning. After a few torturous heartbeats, the faint light of the magical lantern emerged again from the swells. Nikalys gasped. Wil was already another twenty to thirty paces away.

“Blast the Hells!” cursed Captain Scrag.

“Turn the ship around!” screamed Nikalys.

Captain Scrag shook his head, his wet, matted, white mane of hair whipping back and forth.

“How?!! I’ve no sails and the rudder is tied down! I’m not steering this ship! Saewyn is!”

“Then how do we get Wil out of there?!”

The captain did not answer immediately. Fixing Nikalys with a steady gaze, he said, “We don’t.” A sympathetic frown touched his lips.

Nikalys stared at the captain a moment, initially not comprehending what the sailor meant. Once he did, he exclaimed, “You’re going to leave him? He’ll drown!”

Captain Scrag nodded.

“I’m sorry, son.”

Nikalys whipped his head around to look at the weather deck, searching for Broedi. The hillman was nowhere to be found. A long line of sailors stood at a broken port railing, staring in the direction of Wil. They had stopped shouting, solemn expressions having replaced panicked ones.

Staring back into the black sea, Nikalys caught another flash of light. Wil was farther, still.

“No…”

Refusing to accept his friend’s fate, Nikalys glared at the captain and shouted, “Get Nundle up here and tell him to make the biggest light he can!”

“Why?!” screamed Captain Scrag, shielding his eyes against wind and rain.

Ignoring the question, Nikalys stared at the sea, waiting to catch another glimpse of his friend. He reached to his waist, unbuckled his belt, and held the Blade of Horum out to the captain.

“Hold this for me.”

Spotting the yellowish-orange ball of light, Nikalys pushed himself up onto the railing, leapt into the open air, and reached inside him, pulling at whatever it was Aryn Atticus had passed to him.

Shift.

Air exploded from his lungs as he splashed into the icy water. The bitterest of nights in his room at Storm Island was a balmy Summer day compared to the bone-chilling cold of the sea. So shocked by the chill, he briefly forgot the need to swim and he dipped beneath the waves. Fighting back to the surface, he burst into the nighttime air and spat out the mouthful of water he had sucked in.

Whipping his head around, he searched for the light he had seen from the ship but saw nothing. The world was black. Waves were nothing but indistinct, dark shapes carrying him up and down.

As he thrashed about in the sea, the heat seeping from his body, he caught a glimpse of light.

“W—”

The word died on his lips as he realized he was staring at the Sapphire, not Wil. Nikalys’ could not believe how far away the ship already was.

A shift in the wind brought with it a weak shout, the voice full of despair.

“Don’t leave me!”

It was Wil.

Nikalys sought the source, but waves and wind made it impossible to figure out from where it came. As loud as he could, he shouted, “Wil! Wil Eadding!”

Wil responded almost immediately, shouting, “Here! Here! Help! I’m here!”

Nikalys swiveled his head in all directions, spitting out mouthful after mouthful of icy, salty water. Despite the effort he was putting into treading water, much like when he was fighting, he was not tiring or struggling for breath. Horum’s gift granted him incredible endurance. Unfortunately, it did nothing to stave back the water’s chill.

His teeth chattering, he loosed a scream loud enough that his throat felt like it being ripped raw.

“Louder, Wil! I can’t see you!”

He caught a faint reply mixing with the howling wind, but it sounded further away than before. Spotting a soft glow of light a little more than forty feet away, he reached for Horum’s gift.

Shift.

Wil was slumped over an impromptu raft of ship’s railing. A pole jutting from the wood still had the magic orb of light attached to it, shining light on the deep, dark gash that ran from Wil’s nose to his right temple. Nikalys guessed there would be plenty of blood if not for the seawater.

Clapping his friend on the back, Nikalys shouted, “Wil!”

Wil lifted his head to regard Nikalys with glassy eyes and gave an unsteady grin.

“Nice of you to come after me.”

“I couldn’t let my best teacher drown.”

Nikalys hoped the magical light was the reason Wil looked so pale.

Wil’s gaze shifted to stare past Nikalys.

“The Sapphire is almost gone.”

Holding onto the railing itself, Nikalys looked over his shoulder, and saw Wil was right. The Sapphire was twice as far as before. Swallowing a curse, he turned back to Wil, patted the soldier on the back, and called out valiantly, “No worries, Wil. I was the best swimmer in Yellow Mud.”

He looked back to the Sapphire again, a frown on his face. He had no idea how he could get back to the ship. All he knew was that every moment wasted meant the ship was slipping further away.

“Come on, Wil. Time to go.”

He helped Wil from the broken railing, looping the young man’s arms around his neck. The sea swept away the wooden railing immediately, taking the ball bound to it with it. The pair floated in darkness now with Nikalys treading water for them both. It only took a few moments of doing so before Nikalys realized he could never swim to the Sapphire while dragging Wil along. That left only one thing to try.

Reaching up, he gripped Wil’s arms and yelled over the roar of the storm, “Hold on!” Staring in the direction of the ship, he waited until they were atop of another tall wave.

Shift.

Nikalys felt himself falling through the air, having moved from crest to trough. As he plummeted to the sea, he felt sick. He was alone. Apparently, Horum’s gift did not extend to others.

He splashed back into the sea, plunging beneath the water. Struggling upward, he broke into the night and screamed, “Wil! Wil!”

He yelled his friend’s name repeatedly, hoping to catch a response.

“Wil!”

A series of lightning flashes lit up the ever-shifting seas as Nikalys scanned waves, looking for anything that might be a person.

“Wil!”

He wanted nothing more than to hear Wil’s voice call back. It never did.

A deep, dark despair gripped him. His insides turned as numb as his outside.

Suddenly, a dozen feet away, the strangest animal Nikalys had ever seen broke the surface of the turbulent seas. A lightning flash lit up the creature, revealing an elongated nose jutting from a smooth, sloped face and two dark, glassy eyes perched on opposite sides of its head. The beast turned its head to stare at Nikalys with its right eye. As it swiveled, another flash of lightning illuminated a figure on the animal’s back, holding onto a curved fin. Nikalys’ heart leapt for joy.