by Davis Ashura
“Riders,” Serena said, sounding disgusted. “We aren’t out of this yet. Help me trim the sail.”
Jake jumped to where she pointed and followed her crackling commands as best he could. William moved to help.
“Watch out!” Jake shouted.
The boom swung about and William ducked. It grazed his back. Serena called out more orders. The sail filled with a whoosh, and Blue Sky leapt forward.
William watched the Riders rush onward. Even as they rapidly closed the distance, he couldn’t help but admire the way they rode the waves. The glided back and forth across the water as if it were ice, surfing with one hand down to maintain balance and the other grasping a bow. It was so cool.
“Pay attention!” Serena yelled.
William snapped out of his admiration as Serena called more instructions. They trimmed the sail again, and this time the wind was with them. The sail snapped full, a thudding whoosh as Blue Sky Dreams jumped forward. She picked up speed and finally cleared the harbor.
William stared ahead. Nothing but open sea. The dhow thumped over water and wave. Cold, salty spray splashed his face, and wind whipped his hair about.
He glanced back, measuring the distance to the onrushing Riders. Four of them, three men, all bearded and ranging from young to middle-aged, and an older woman. They had sheathed swords on their hips and the woman had a bow in her hands. Their clothes and hair streamed behind them as they leaned forward over their surging waves.
“Where are they?” Serena asked, facing forward at the tiller.
“Closing fast,” William answered. “Fifty yards or so. Drifting in and out of our wake.”
“Can you do what you did with those Walkers?” Serena asked.
“It’s only good for about twenty feet,” William answered.
“Look out!” Jake warned.
One of the Riders, the oldest male, had a strong talent for Fire. His hands glowed, and a gout of flame blasted toward the dhow.
William instinctually sourced his lorethasra, separated his Elements, and connected them to lorasra. In less than a heartbeat, he braided air and drove the flames aside. He even managed to smack at the Rider. The mahavan struggled to maintain his balance when the air battered him about, and he eventually had to break off his attack.
Elation filled William, but it died away when he lost his connection to lorasra.
“Do that again,” Serena demanded. “But this time aim it at the Riders. Knock them off their waves. Or better yet, aim it at the sail. I want us going faster.”
“I can’t,” William replied. He mentally berated himself and pounded his thigh in frustration. “I can’t consciously separate my Elements.”
Serena glared at him.
An arrow hissed past his head and thumped into the inside hull.
William viewed the oncoming Rider—the woman—in dismay. She’d closed to no more than twenty yards away, and her bow held a nocked and ready arrow. The mahavan sighted along it.
“Not this time,” Serena muttered. She held the tiller between her knees and twisted around. She pointed. The stench of sulfur filled the dhow as fire surged down Serena’s arm and exploded toward the Rider with the bow.
The mahavan threw up her hands, covering her torso in a shield of water. It absorbed most of the flame, but some of it penetrated. The woman lost control of her wave and smacked into the water. She bounced over the sea like a stone—five, six, eight times—before flopping to a rest. She momentarily disappeared underwater before surfacing again. She screamed at them, but William couldn’t make out the words.
“Only three more,” Selene crowed from her spot at the bow, hunched low and hidden beneath Serena’s coat.
She’d been so quiet that William had almost forgotten about her. He shucked off his coat and tossed it on Selene. She needed the protection. Jake quickly followed suit.
Blue Sky raced before the wind, but the Riders continued chasing them. One cut in front of them. He gestured, and their sail luffed, flapping in the wind. The dhow shuddered to a stall, its bow digging into the water.
“Get ready!” Serena warned.
The three Riders rode separate surges of water toward their boat.
No chance they’d make it on board. William sourced his Spirit and drained the lorasra all around Blue Sky. He reached as far as he could, stretching twice as far as he’d ever done before.
The Riders’ storm surge collapsed beneath them, and they fell into the ocean. One managed to clutch Blue Sky’s railing. Selene popped out of her hiding place and rapped his knuckles with her oar. The Rider shouted in pain and promptly let go. William laughed at the Rider’s comical scream right before he splashed into the ocean.
“Get back on the sail,” Serena barked. “I need the sheet to starboard.”
The sail filled with a boom, and the tell-tales flapped backward. Blue Sky Dreams accelerated, and Serena shifted the rudder. The dhow changed course.
“Haul the sail perpendicular to the dhow,” Serena ordered.
The dhow kicked forward again as they ran before the wind. The Riders grew distant and eventually disappeared. No other pursuers chased them. There was nothing behind them except for empty water and Sinskrill itself.
But it took minutes more of sailing with no further pursuit for William to finally relax. Blue Sky Dreams rode the sea, thudding as it slammed over the waves. William’s shoulder-length hair streamed behind him like a tell-tale, and salty spray filled his mouth. He squinted, protecting his eyes from the ocean water as it splashed into his face.
As further time passed, the first stirrings of optimism, of real belief that they would escape, kindled to life. William’s spirits lifted, and he shared a grin of triumph with anyone who happened to look his way.
“Shouldn’t we go south?” Jake asked. “Isn’t that the quickest way to get clear of the island?”
Serena kept them headed east. “We aren’t going through Suborn Strait,” she said, referring to the channel separating Sinskrill and Amethyst. “We’d end up too close to the Servitor’s Palace. We’re heading east and then north. It’s the longer way but safer.”
Through the next hour, Serena kept William and Jake busy. They carried out her commands, keeping the sail trimmed and doing whatever she needed to maintain Blue Sky’s easterly course.
“Bring in the sail, toward starboard,” Serena ordered.
William and Jake did so, and the dhow swung north.
Shortly afterward, Serena noticed William clench his stomach and groan. He swayed and his face held a green tint.
“I think I’m going to lose my biscuits,” Jake moaned. He and William both looked nauseated.
“We’ve left Sinskrill’s lorasra,” Serena explained. “You’re suffering from the lack of lorasra, not seasickness.” She passed around nomasras—smooth pieces of white marble—leftovers from her time in the Far Abroad. She’d saved them after her pilgrimage, and no one had asked her to give them back.
The instant their hands closed on the nomasras, William, Jake, and Serena’s expressions cleared.
“Thank God,” William said fervently.
“Amen to that,” Jake said.
“Where are we going, Madam?” Selene asked.
Serena smiled at her sister. “If we’re lucky, we’re going to a place where you don’t need to be afraid anymore, where you can call me Serena whether we’re in public or in private. We’ll be true sisters, and you won’t have to worry about any more Temperings or strippings.”
Selene studied her with solemn, judging eyes. “Where’s that?” she finally asked.
Serena’s smile faded, and she called her sister to her side. She took Selene’s hands in hers. “Do you trust me?” she asked, repeating a question she’d asked Selene earlier that morning. Had it really been only a few hours ago?
Selene nodded.
“Then trust me now,” Serena said, giving the little girl’s hands a squeeze. “You’ll find out when we get there.”
“Stop
bothering her with talk like that,” Jake said, lifting Selene and moving her to the bow. The little girl squealed when he tickled her before setting her down. “Make sure to stay low,” Jake advised. “You don’t want to get knocked off by the boom.”
“Yes, sir.”
Jake smiled at her. “Jake. You call me Jake, remember?”
“Yes, sir . . . I mean, Jake.”
He ruffled her hair. “Watch out for flying sharks and mind what I said about the boom. Last thing we need is a drowned cat.”
Selene trusted Jake enough to stick her tongue out at him, and he grinned at her, ruffling her hair again.
Serena watched their interaction in amazement. Jake was so gentle with Selene, and she obviously adored him. What a change from the arrogant ass she’d known back in Cincinnati.
“If we’re past Sinskrill’s saha’asra, can the Walkers still hear us?” William asked.
“No,” Serena said.
“Then stay on this heading,” William said, grinning with excitement. “Mr. Zeus dreamed to me last night. They’re here, on the northwest side of the island. They’ve been trying to figure out how to get to us, but all we have to do is sail over to them, and we can all leave together.”
Excitement and trepidation warred within Serena. Excitement for leaving Sinskrill, and trepidation for how the magi would react to her. Would they save William and Jake and maybe Selene, but leave her on Sinskrill? “Do they know we’re coming to them?” Serena asked, pushing back the anxiety.
“I don’t know,” William replied. “I tried to dream back, but I couldn’t tell if Mr. Zeus heard me.”
Serena nodded. “Then we try to find them, but I’m not waiting around Sinskrill any longer than absolutely necessary. If they aren’t where you think they are, then we head to the Faroe Islands. There’s an anchor line there that we can use to get somewhere safe.”
“We’ll find them,” William replied, sounding confident. “Mr. Zeus showed me where their boat was docked. There’s a bunch of white cliffs and a small island in the harbor.”
“Does this island have a peaked hill on it?”
William nodded.
“Then I know where they are,” Serena said.
Jake whooped, and he and William danced about.
“Watch it! You’re messing with the sail,” Serena said. She laughed even while she warned them.
William’s grin faded when he noticed something Selene was holding.
“What’s wrong?” Serena asked.
William didn’t answer. Instead, he approached Selene. “How long have you had that?” he asked.
Selene closed her fists, holding tight what she’d been staring at, but Serena had seen it. The locket holding a picture of William’s family.
“Madam gave it to me,” Selene said, her voice soft yet fierce.
William bent low. “It’s my family. My father, my mother, and my brother. I loved them. It means a lot to me.”
Selene’s eyes filled with tears, and she wordlessly offered William the locket.
Serena’s heart broke at Selene’s generosity. She wanted to do something for her little sister, protect her somehow, but she didn’t know how.
William closed Selene’s hand about the locket. “Hold on to it for me,” he said with a smile. “I know you love it, and you’ll keep it safe.”
“Yes, sir,” Selene promised.
William pulled her into a hug. “William,” he said to her. “You know that’s my name, right?”
Jake came up to Serena’s side. “We might hate you,” he said, “but she’s a sweet girl who deserves better than what she’s received.”
Serena silently agreed. She loved Selene, but her sister did deserve a better parent than the one fate had left her. Serena saw it now. William and Jake loved Selene more easily and truly than she ever had. She wiped at her eyes.
The boat fell quiet, other than the orders she called out from time to time.
Soon after, they swept past Sinskrill’s northern edge and tacked west. Nothing but open water lay before them.
William scanned behind them with her binoculars. “We’ve got company,” he said.
“A ship?” Serena guessed.
William nodded. “It’s flying the Servitor’s flag, a white throne on a black field. It’s carrying a lot more sail than us, too.”
“Demolition,” Serena said, making the name of the other ship sound like a curse.
“Get the ship moving,” Mr. Zeus said to Daniel and Julius, their Air and Water adepts. “The nomasra is moving too quickly to still be on land.”
“Where’s it going?” Jason asked while he helped uncoil the lines and run the sails out.
“I don’t know. Somewhere east, and moving fast,” Mr. Zeus answered.
“A ship?” Jessira asked.
“That would be my guess,” Mr. Zeus said, “Maybe they’re making their own break for freedom, but I won’t be happy until William and Jake are with us and we’re all back on Arylyn.”
Moments later, the yacht’s sails unfurled, filling under the power of Daniel and Julius’ braids of Air. They could have also run the engine, but Mr. Zeus still feared giving away their position.
Eventually they slipped out of the harbor, and Jason took them northwest, on the closest course to intercept where Mr. Zeus sensed William’s nomasra moving.
“Stay on this heading,” his grandfather said. “Be on the lookout for a ship with a single sail. It’s the image William sent me last night when I dreamed to him.”
“How could he send you anything?” Julius asked, sounding skeptical. “He’s untrained.”
“He was untrained,” Mr. Zeus said. “He’s been on Sinskrill for five months, and I’m sure the mahavans haven’t had him sitting around doing nothing.”
“If he’s already on a boat, he’s probably figured out a way off Sinskrill,” Jason said.
“He’s not free yet,” Rukh said.
Jason tried not to scowl. “Which is why we’re going to get him,” he said, hoping he didn’t sound too condescending toward the man.
An instant later he muttered in disbelief.
When had he started to think of the freshman as a man? Then again, he did carry himself like one. And Jessira, standing at the prow with a hand on her sword and the wind streaming her hair like a golden pennon, was all warrior woman.
“When did they learn to sail, anyway?” Daniel asked.
“Who cares?” Julius answered. “As long as they keep on coming to us, and we can get out of here.”
Daniel’s question, though, raised doubts in Jason’s mind.
When had William and Jake learned to sail? On Sinskrill? Why would the mahavans have taught them? They’d risk having their prize raha’asras flee the island, which was exactly what they were apparently doing.
“There are others on the boat with them,” Jessira said, apparently working through the same set of questions as he. “They are the ones sailing the boat.”
“But probably not enemies,” Rukh said, “unless this is all a ruse. William and Jake might be bait meant to capture us.”
Jessira briefly pursed her lips. “We may have to fight.”
“Isn’t it always the case?” Rukh said to her.
An hour later, Mr. Zeus snarled again in frustration. “Now they’re tacking south. Whoever’s sailing with them must be drunk.”
“Or they’re being chased and are trying to throw off their pursuer,” Rukh countered. He glanced at Jason. “Can we go faster? I have a feeling they’ll need us there sooner rather than later.”
A chill passed down Jason’s spine at Rukh’s softly asked question. It contained a promise of violence all the more menacing for its quiet tone.
“We can push harder,” Julius said.
“Do it,” Mr. Zeus ordered, “and fire up the engine.”
Jason did as instructed, and the engine rumbled to life. The yacht picked up speed while Daniel and Julius sourced their lorethasras more deeply. Clear pulses of
air rolled across their torsos and punched from their hands. The braids had the sails straining, and their boat jumped forward.
Jessira laughed, holding her arms out to the wind, the waves, and the spray. “I’d almost forgotten the joy of being cold,” she said.
“I wish I never remembered it,” Rukh complained.
Jessira laughed again. “Your Pureblood blood was always too thin,” she said in a voice full of affection.
Jason shook his head. What the hell was that about? He decided it might be best to stop paying attention to the weird freshmen.
Half an hour later, a single-masted ship came into view. Several hundred yards behind it rode another ship, much larger and with many more sails. As they watched, the bigger vessel slowly gained on the smaller one.
William shot a glance at the Servitor’s ship, Demolition, and cursed.
An hour was all they needed. A short but endless hour to circle Sinskrill’s north coast and rendezvous with Mr. Zeus. Only an hour, some luck, and they’d have escaped the mahavan’s island. But, like everything about this island, the only luck here was bad. With every passing second, the Servitor’s ship gained on them.
How the hell was it moving so fast?
Jake and Serena had thick braids of Air pumping into Blue Sky’s sail. They gave the dhow every last bit of speed they could manage.
“My nomasra is almost out,” Jake panted.
“Mine, too,” Serena replied, also gasping.
A feverish idea percolated in William’s subconscious. “If we sail closer to Sinskrill, we’ll be able to draw from the saha’asra again.”
“So will they,” Jake countered, “and they’ve got Walkers.”
“But the Walkers won’t be able to do squat if we drain the lorasra behind us. We create a dead zone, they sail into it, and the only push they get is from the wind.”
Serena brightened. “If we leave braids of turbulence, they’ll lose even that.”
“It’s only going to get us a few minutes of extra time,” Jake replied.
I know, but maybe in those few minutes we can find Mr. Zeus’ ship,” William countered, “or he can find us.”
