Caeli understood that she needed to move. She managed to pull a portion of the rope through a loop of the cargo net, easing some of the tension on the line as she tied it to the net. This also permitted her enough space to free her wrist. Caeli could see the purple ring around her wrist where the rope had deeply bruised her skin. However, she was now free to continue her climb without abandoning the pilot. This eased her mind, and Caeli once more began the slow upward climb in spite of the waves threatening to crash through her barrier. The mental drain caused by the continual use of her gift exhausted her far beyond what Caeli would have believed possible. Caeli's lack of practice and understanding of her gift hampered her efforts and required every bit of her strength and concentration.
Vin could see from above that Caeli was spent. If not for the white light that approached her earlier, the situation might have taken a more drastic turn. He had already planned to drag her and the entire net onto the deck despite his waning strength. He would not fail Caeli when she needed him most. Therefore, he was thankful for the help that her guardian angel provided. For the moment, all Vin could do was continue to keep a close eye on his wife while she inched her way upward.
Caeli closed her eyes after one final survey of the enormous waves tossing the ship about like a child's toy in a bathtub. In order to avert the impending disaster, Caeli saw no other choice but to attempt one final feat with her gift. She wanted to diminish the size of the waves. Climbing a little further up the cargo net, Caeli stopped and wrapped her hand securely in the netting. Doing the unthinkable, Caeli turned to face the water with her waning barrier as her last bit of strength began to fade.
Before she started, Caeli needed to let someone know what she intended to do. She chose Salma, knowing that Vin would only try to talk her out of it, and she did not have the time to spare or the energy it would take to sway him. Caeli needed to act while she still could, compelled to take this risk. Compared to Vin, Salma would be more likely to accept Caeli's decision and withhold her questions.
"Salma, can you get everyone inside?"
"Caeli? What are you doing?" Salma responded immediately to Caeli's voice heard clearly in her mind.
"Salma, please, I don't have time to explain it to you right now. This is incredibly tiring." Caeli knew she would only have the stamina for one attempt.
"Caeli, you know Vin is not going to leave you out there. He is chomping at the bit as it is. It's all Ben can do to keep him from coming down after you."
"I know. I will talk to Vin in a minute. I may need his help. For now, please, take care of the others. If anyone asks, tell them Vin is helping me get untangled from the net. In case this doesn't work out the way I want it to, I would like you to get everyone below deck, including you and Ben." With that, Caeli broke her connection to Salma. Salma rushed out on deck and knelt down beside Vin.
After seeing Ben pull up the last, redheaded refugee, Vin sat with a puzzled and worried look on his face. Caeli was still down there, but Ben steadfastly blocked him each time he tried to climb down.
"Ben, please. Move aside."
"I can't do that, Vin. You're in no shape to go down there. If we have to, we'll send someone else after her."
Ordinarily, Ben would not have been a physical impediment for Vin; but because of his weariness, Vin could not put up enough resistance to overcome the obstacle his friend presented. In all honesty, Vin knew that he was too tired to climb down the net safely.
Ben sat heavily on the deck between Vin and the net, waiting. Most of the ship's crew was already below deck helping get the new passengers settled. Only one guardsman, Jeremy, remained to help them when they were ready. At the moment, Jeremy stood staring out at the increasing size of the swelling waters like a deer caught in the headlights. Some of the more distant waves were enormous. Most people went their entire lives without seeing the ocean swell to such heights. Salma held Ben's hand and placed her other hand on Vin's arm. When Vin turned his watchful eye away from the cargo net to look at Salma through his weariness, she relayed Caeli's message.
"Vin, Caeli isn't coming up."
"What!?" Vin started to jump up and move toward the net once again. Again, Ben stopped him.
"Easy, Vin. Caeli said she would explain it to you in a minute and asked that we get everyone else below deck as quickly as possible. Ben and I can take care of that. I know you won't leave her, but you need to give her a few minutes. And, of course I don't have to say this, but I am going to anyway. Please be careful enough for the both of you! Don't do anything foolish, but get her on board safely."
Vin nodded and leaned against the rail. He had not used his gift this extensively in a long time, and it definitely took a greater toll on this side of the barrier. Ben grasped Vin by the arm and briefly gave him a concerned but proudly confident stare as Vin might have expected from a father figure, had he ever known one. Then Ben stood and hurried away with Salma. They helped round up the few remaining deckhands and Jeremy below. Vin leaned over to see Caeli, but she had moved over on the net and, other than a brief glimpse of her bright life jacket, was out of his immediate line of sight. What was she thinking? Why was she staying down there? Even if Caeli utilized her new skills, anything she tried to do in this weather could likely get her killed. The extremely rough sea spawned waves reaching astounding heights. That must be what Urim meant when he said this could be dangerous for her, especially without someone to teach her. Vin was again tempted to climb down, but he waited to hear what she was doing. Without doubt, Caeli would need his strength, and it still might not be enough for whatever she was planning.
"Ah, Caeli, my strength is nearly depleted, but what I have left is all yours."
"I'm sorry, Vin, but I have to try. These waves are tossing the ship about dangerously. The storm is getting worse by the minute. I know it may be my imagination, but I feel like this storm has been following me. I feel responsible for this. Nonetheless, even a ship of this size cannot survive the storm over the horizon. Can you see it? Do you sense its power? Can you feel its anger? I can. After everything these people have been through, they don't need to go from one sinking vessel to another." Caeli then explained to Vin what she was going to attempt.
"Caeli, at least climb up further so that I can reach you. Let me hold your hand. Maybe I can use my gift to help you deal with the storm," Vin replied through their special connection, understanding that he would not be able to change her mind.
He lay down on his stomach, wrapped his legs and one arm around the rails, and then stretched his other hand down toward her. As Vin leaned over the edge, he could see that Caeli moved a little higher on the net and continued climbing slowly upward. To Vin, she looked almost as tired as he felt, and he could clearly tell that she was sick on top of it all. Noting the way the water was deflected around her confirmed his theory that Caeli had, indeed, used her newly discovered gift to help the situation on the plane. That must be the behavior Salma described as odd.
At last, Caeli stopped moving upward, but now Vin could easily reach her. He held on tight. Vin freely offered her all the strength and support he could give, but there was nothing else he could do, yet. Caeli looked up and smiled at him before turning to face the dark waters once again.
Caeli squeezed Vin's hand and then put all other thoughts from her mind. She concentrated on the movement of the water. She listened to the rolling of the waves beneath the turbulent surface. She could feel the rise and fall of the currents like the breath in her lungs. The water called to her. Caeli focused on it until she became a part of the currents, until they ebbed and flowed through her. As she extended her senses outward, Caeli finally found what she sought. She expected energy on a large scale, but the enormity of the ocean's core seemed immeasurable and insurmountable. Caeli experienced a moment of panic, but quickly suppressed it.
She was hard pressed to figure out how to diminish the large waves, let alone do it before her stamina ran out. Caeli needed a solution that would not endanger the
surrounding islands or upset the natural flow of the water. She had absolutely no idea how she could accomplish such a feat.
"You are not nearly strong enough to accomplish this task alone. Let me help you."
"I think you have done enough already. If throwing a plane at me is your idea of help, then I don't need you. Besides, I am not alone," Caeli replied feeling the security of Vin's grip. She reached out and began to channel the energy from the waves into herself, holding that energy within as the water continued on its way with diminished force. It was a simple notion, but Caeli could find no obvious flaw in her logic. It should work.
Her impromptu solution did not take into account the accumulation of the energy she pulled from the waves. Caeli could not easily redirect that much energy. The water was easy enough to move, but the energy that powered the water was rapidly building up inside of her. In order for her plan to succeed, Caeli would have to release that energy. She could not contain it. But how? In the next instant, the answer dawned on Caeli as clear as Vin's blue eyes watching her from above.
For the next twenty minutes Caeli worked feverishly, channeling water and now energy. She was not alone. That was her answer. She squeezed Vin's hand several times and the nearest waves began to subside. Each time Caeli did this, Vin received a significant influx of energy. It quickly restored his stamina and strength. At one point, Vin was almost overwhelmed by the energy coursing through him. However, unlike Caeli, Vin was familiar with and welcomed the sensation of the elemental energy flow.
Vin disbursed the energy in controlled bursts amongst the storm winds, using it to lessen their effect on the seas below. Vin's efforts with the wind perfectly complimented Caeli's work on the water itself, combining their efforts into something stronger than either could have achieved alone. Together, they were an unimaginably powerful team.
Vin was amazed at what Caeli accomplished with her gift. The larger waves nearby slowly diminished. Although the waves still swayed the ship, the surrounding sea no longer the thrashed like the monster that previously threatened to engulf the ship. The waters within a mile radius of the ship were much calmer and the waves less menacing. Now less than half of their original size, the waves were still not small by any means. Another five minutes elapsed. The waves were only perhaps fifteen feet high now. It seemed as if the ocean were falling asleep around them. The smaller waves were no challenge for a ship this size. The combination of Vin's reduction of the winds and Caeli's manipulation of the waves brought the ship from storm-tossed waters into merely choppy seas. Rain continued to fall lightly, but the storm's fury was temporarily spent.
Vin spared a moment to assess his fully revitalized status. The energy Caeli had siphoned into him completely restored his strength and dissolved his weariness. He couldn't have been more alert or physically whole than if he had slept undisturbed for three days. Thinking about the energy being sent through her touch, Vin suddenly realized that Caeli was no longer squeezing his hand. She no longer appeared to be affecting the water or moving at all. He heaved on the cargo net and pulled her up to the safety of the deck.
"Caeli, can you hear me? Caeli? Answer me, Honey."
Vin brushed her long, wet hair out of her face to get a better look at her. She was breathing, but did not give any indication that she heard his verbal or mental pleas. Caeli lay unmoving on her back with her eyes closed. After untangling her hand from the netting, Vin scooped her shivering form into his arms and carried her into the steering room. The captain motioned him on into the helmsman's room. He thanked the captain as he rushed Caeli inside, laid her on the small utility cot, and then closed the door to gain a little privacy. A quick search of the room produced a gray, wool blanket from a locker, which he draped over Caeli to help warm her. Vin checked the locker again to see if there were any dry clothes, but came up empty. So he went back to Caeli with a second blanket and covered her with it as well.
"Caeli, open your eyes please. Look at me. Are you hurt? Let me know if you're all right."
Vin pulled a chair up beside the bunk so that he could stay close and try to discover what was wrong with her. He didn't see any obvious injuries and she didn't appear to be in distress, other than being unresponsive.
"Caeli, it's ok. You did it. Everyone is on board and the sea has calmed down. It's over. I have been so worried ever since you called to me; but you're safe now. I'm here. Please wake up." Vin spoke softly to her in the privacy of the little room.
Caeli opened her eyes only to stare at the ceiling above her. Vin noticed that she was shaking her head subtly as if she might be disagreeing with his words, but she did not otherwise respond. Her breathing remained normal.
"Caeli, honey, can you hear me? Are you ok? What can I do?" Vin tried again, caressing the side of her face and turning her head so that she was looking toward him. She still didn't answer.
"Salma," Vin tried a different approach.
"Vin; thank God. Are you two all right?"
"I'm fine. I may need your help with Caeli. Can you come up here?"
"Not directly. They won't let us leave this area yet. They are waiting to get an all clear from the captain."
"Then I will get his permission and come down to get you. Caeli is not responding to me. I'm going to try again, but if I can't reach her, I would like you to come up and have a look at her, please."
"I'll be waiting, Vin."
Vin ended his conversation with Salma and returned his attention to Caeli. He kept talking to her, offering her the comfort of his voice.
"Your gift is incredible, Caeli. What you did was amazing. I can't wait to hear more about it. I understand if you need to take your time, but please, say something…anything. Talk to me, Honey."
After several minutes, Caeli's lack of response and continued shivering had not changed, so Vin got up and found a hand towel that he could use to dry her hair, hoping it would help. She allowed Vin to move her on the bed without resistance, but she did not talk or move of her own volition. Caeli reacted as if she were on a hypnotist's couch.
Vin moved her to sit up on the edge of the bed with both blankets wrapped around her from her shoulders down. He pulled off her wet shoes and socks and tossed them aside. Vin wrung the water out of her hair and worked to dry it as well as he could. Once done with that, Vin wrung some of the water out of her dripping clothes. He spread the towel on the floor beneath Caeli's feet and set to work squeezing the excess water from her pants and then moved up to her shirt.
As he twisted the lower portion of the front of Caeli's shirt, he was alarmed to see that the water streaming to the floor below carried a tint of red.
"Caeli, are you hurt? Are you bleeding?" Vin immediately lifted her shirt and began to look for injuries.
"Not anymore," Caeli startled him when she whispered a barely audible answer. They were the first words she had spoken since Vin pulled her aboard.
"What do you mean? Where were you hurt? How bad? Caeli, what happened?"
Vin's inquiries went unanswered. Caeli stared at the bottom of her shirt, once again returned to her trance-like state. He continued his inspection, hoping to locate her injury. Vin ran his hand across her midsection, feeling the same tingling sensation that he had noted for several weeks now, but he did not find any open wounds. He did discover a small, white circle that had not been there earlier that morning when Caeli modeled her new swimsuit. Vin did not know how or when the mark got there, but it did not appear to be the source of the blood, so he kept looking. After looking Caeli over twice, Vin could not find any open wounds or cuts. He did see the knot on the side of her head where she must have bumped it. Maybe the blood wasn't hers after all. Perhaps she had helped someone else and that was how the blood got on her shirt.
"Caeli, I'm pretty sure you can hear me, but I don't know what's wrong or how to help you. Please talk to me."
Vin rewrapped Caeli in the blankets and then sat beside her on the bed. This time, he pulled her close, leaning her head against his chest, typi
cally one of her favorite places to rest. She had responded once, and Vin took that as a good sign. Vin continued to talk to her, hoping the sound of his voice would somehow pull her out again. Vin even continued to try to reach her through their special link.
"Caeli, I'm worried about you. Can you talk to me, please?"
To Vin's surprise, his attempt was blocked as if Caeli was trying to prevent him from reaching her in that manner. Perhaps she needed more time, but Vin was uncertain and therefore concerned. After another fifteen minutes, Caeli's breathing finally changed. He looked down to see that her eyes were closed again. He could tell that she wasn't exactly sleeping, but at least she seemed to be resting. Vin held her close, letting her continue to lean against him and relax. He should have known Caeli would respond better like that. Something about laying on him always helped Caeli rest more soundly. She had always insisted that resting on his shoulder or chest was medicinal. Vin secretly believed that she enjoyed being close to him. Of course, he didn't mind that at all. Over the years, Vin had been pleased to learn that there was truth in both explanations.
As he sat there, Vin heard the captain announce the change in the weather to the passengers and crew waiting anxiously below. He could almost feel the tension break as relief washed over the passengers when they found out that the sea had finally calmed down and the ride would not be as rough as they had anticipated. Thankfully, the captain ordered everyone except a few of his officers and deck crew to remain where they were because the waters were still dangerous, and he would not risk losing anyone after coming this far. Therefore, no one would be coming by to disturb him while he tried to help Caeli. He decided to wait a little longer before seeking Salma's aid.
Wrath of the Sea Queen Page 13
